Automation of auditing claims

ABSTRACT

Described are computer-based methods and apparatuses, including computer program products, for automation of auditing claims. A data file comprising make model information, insurance company information, and one or more auditable items, each auditable item comprising a word string having one or more words. The make model information is automatically translated into a vehicle identifier. The insurance company information is automatically translated into an insurance company identifier. The one or more auditable items are automatically translated into one or more groups of identifiers, wherein the one or more groups of identifiers comprises one or more part item identifiers, one or more operational item identifiers, or both. A parts audit report is automatically generated based on the one or more groups of identifiers. An operational audit report is automatically generated. A multi-point estimate is automatically generated based on the parts audit report data and the operational audit report data.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to computer-based methods andapparatuses, including computer program products, for automation ofauditing claims.

BACKGROUND

Insurance claim estimates can be written by a number of differentappraisal types (e.g., independent appraisers, repair shop appraisers,insurance staff appraisers). The appraiser can select the tools and/ormaterials used to generate the estimates (e.g., how to write estimates,what software to use to write the estimates, what forms to use, etc.).The completed estimates are sent to the appropriate insurance companyfor review, approval and payment.

Completed estimates are reviewed to determine accuracy prior to approvaland settlement of costs. The review includes, in part, determiningliability for the claim costs. Liability either rests with the reviewinginsurance company, a different insurance company, or a third party. Whenthe liability rests with an insurance company other than the reviewinginsurance company, or with a third party, all estimate repair documentsare imaged and mailed (or emailed) to the liable party.

The review and settlement process for claim estimates is fundamentallyconsistent regardless of the claim type (e.g., a claim for a vehiclerepair, a subrogation claim, a glass claim, a medical claim, a propertyclaim, or other claim type). As such, the documents used in theprocesses for review and settlement of a claim are also materiallysimilar. Some claim documents can be received electronically, while mostdocuments used in a review are imaged, making it technically impossibletoday to automate the review, approval, and/or payment process forclaims.

It is estimated that, on average, claim costs for insurers are inflatedby over 20% on each claim, or approximately $2.0 billion per year. Toexert some control over the quality of repair operations and theaccuracy of repair expenditures and claim costs, insurance companiesperform audits on the repair documents and repair work associated withan insurance claim. Similarly, other businesses, such as glasscompanies, salvage pool businesses, rental car companies, and others,perform the same or similar auditing of documents to control quality ofwork performed and costs expended.

For claims undergoing an audit process auditors manually analyze partsselected, manually analyze repair operations suggested/performed, andmanually perform other proprietary business procedures and guidelinesthat are designed by the insurer to provide the best end-result for thevehicle owner and the business. Only limited capabilities exist inelectronic auditing of estimate line items, which are limited to singleline “Yes/No” outputs that are completely reliant upon an underlyingcode being associated with a data element on a specific line item of anestimate. There may not be a code for each line item. For example, if anappraisal source modifies an estimate line manually from the pre-definedinput of the estimating software, those codes no longer exist. Becausethis occurs on almost all claim estimates, the current electronicauditing tools can be more appropriately characterized as tools that“flag” possible issues for auditors. The audit itself must still becompleted manually. The cost and inefficiencies around this type ofprocess enable only a minority of all claims to be reviewed for qualityand accurateness.

The primary factors that affect claims cost are (1) the “parts” beingutilized on the repair estimate, and (2) the “repair operation” beinglisted as necessary. From these two key estimate elements other costsare either incurred, or avoided. Insurance companies can reduce repaircosts by having appraisers substitute higher priced original equipmentparts from original equipment manufacturers (“OEM's”) with lessexpensive, equivalent, aftermarket, recycled or reconditioned parts(“alternative parts”). Advantageously, by using alternative parts,appraisers and repair shops save actual repair time, improve the qualityof parts used in the repair, and accelerate the time taken to repair avehicle. The end result is advantageous for all parties involved in theprocess.

For example, a claims appraiser, to save time and simplify the writingof a repair estimate, often selects higher priced OEM parts on a repairestimate, claiming no availability of approved alternative parts.Similarly a repair shop can receive payment for an OEM part from aninsurance company and actually use a lower quality, less expensive,non-approved part without the insurance company having an accurate andreliable process to verify proper part utilization. Similarly, arepairer or appraiser may add repair operations onto an estimate thatare not needed, based on the type of part selected. Without a manualreview of the claim documents, these costs and lower quality parts cango undetected and contribute to higher repair costs and insurance ratecosts, as well as poorer quality repairs for policyholders. Insuranceclaims and general repairs cannot be processed in an automatic processtoday because there is no system to accept claim documents and convertthem into a usable, electronic form. There is no system capable ofdeciphering, or translating line items on the claim and repair documentsto review accuracy and best practices. There is no system capable ofreviewing and comparing various data across the documents to ensureadherence to the insurers best practices and guidelines for repairs.

For example, the subrogation of insurance claims is an extremely manualand paper based process. Assume driver A is insured by company A′, anddriver B is insured by company B′. Driver A is involved in an accidentwith driver B, where A is responsible for the accident. However, B cango to his insurance company B′ to repair his automobile, insurancecompany B′ pays for the repairs, and then insurance company B′subrogates against driver A's insurance carrier for reimbursement.Insurance company A′, however, will respond to insurance company B′ byevaluating how the vehicle was repaired and then pay only what A′ feelsis the proper amount.

This process cannot be performed on every claim filed per year, andoften leads to the parties going through an arbitration process with anysettlement occurring, on average, over five (5) months after the initialsubrogation. When sizing the automotive claims (repair claims andsubrogation claims) marketplace there are approximately 30,000,000claims that must be reviewed, approved and paid each year. Of thisvolume, none of the claims that can be electronically and automaticallyreviewed (or audited) in a manner that constitutes an audited review.This can be problematic, because the insurance company must either electto pay the claim as received (at a 100% value) or to apply people to thereview process, which is both time consuming and expensive. Thecumulative claim cost for the repair estimate only (excluding rental,towing, people, etc.) is estimated at over $100 billion U.S. dollars.

The end result is a very time-consuming “he said, she said” process. Asdisclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/928,570 (U.S. Pub. No.2008/0243556), which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety, subrogation specialists and self-insured's can gain access toreal-time data that supports availability of parts on historical dates,enabling parties involved in the claims process to better identify whenan appraiser did not accurately utilize parts on an estimate and/oraccurately document the cost of parts on the estimate. However,subrogation specialists must still manually analyze each operationalentry in the repair documents to generate a proper settlement amount.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention, in one aspect, features a computerized auditing method.The auditing method includes receiving, via a processor, a data filecomprising one or more auditable items, each auditable item comprising aword string having one or more words. The method includes translating,using the processor, each word string for each auditable item using oneor more translation steps into a translated item description. The methodincludes comparing, using the processor, each translated itemdescription to a plurality of terms to generate matching information.The method includes associating, using the processor, each translateditem description with an item identifier based on the matchinginformation. The method includes accepting, using the processor, orrejecting each auditable item based on the item identifier and one ormore rules associated with the data file.

In another embodiment, the method includes determining the itemidentifier is rejected for an auditable item and rejecting the auditableitem, or determining the item identifier is accepted for the auditableitem and accepting the auditable item. The method can includeunsuccessfully translating a word string into a translated itemdescription and logging the word string as an unsuccessful translation.The method can include unsuccessfully associating a translated itemdescription with a single item identifier, and associating thetranslated item description with a plurality of item identifiers.Translating can include preprocessing the word string.

In another embodiment, preprocessing includes removing one or moreorientation words from the word string, removing one or more unnecessarywords from the word string, adding a space before one or morepunctuation marks in the word string, or any combination thereofTranslating the word string can include determining the word stringincludes one or more standard words from a plurality of standard words,and removing the one or more standard words from the word string.Translating the word string can include determining word string includesone or more specific words from a plurality of specific words, and foreach specific word from the one or more specific words, processing theword string based on the specific word.

In another embodiment, the plurality of specific words can includepredetermined word strings, structural part groupings, abbreviations,metric indicators, computer generated formats, non-alphanumericcharacters, single letters, or any combination thereof. The metricindicators can be alphanumeric, alpha, and numerical characters dealingwith metrics. Translating the word string can include determining theword string includes one or more abbreviations from a plurality ofabbreviations, and for each abbreviation from the one or moreabbreviations, processing the word string based on the abbreviation.Translating the word string can include determining the word stringincludes header information, and processing the word string based on theheader information. Translating the word string can include determiningthe word string includes one or more ambiguous words from a plurality ofambiguous words, and processing the word string based on the one or moreambiguous words.

In another embodiment, translating the word string includes applying oneor more rules from a plurality of rules to the word string, wherein eachrule is associated with a logic for processing the word string,determining whether the word string contains one or more predetermineditems, and if the word string contains one or more predetermined items,for each predetermined item, processing the word string based on thepredetermined item. The method can include, for each predetermined item,determining whether the word string satisfies a condition associatedwith the predetermined item, and if the word string satisfies thecondition, generating the translated item description. The method caninclude determining whether the translated item description was notgenerated, and if the translated item description was not generated,generating the translated item description based on a statisticalestimation. The one or more rules can include one or more specific itemrules, one or more combination rules, or any combination thereof. Theone or more predetermined items can include one or more terms, one ormore punctuation marks, or any combination thereof. The method caninclude determining the word string includes one word, and generatingthe translated item description to include the one word.

In another embodiment, translating the word string includes applying oneor more combination rules to the word string, wherein each rule isassociated with a logic for processing the word string, comparing theword string against a build table to generate a relationship between theone or more words of the word string, the build table comprising one ormore index words, each index word being associated with indexinformation, and generating the translated item description based on therelationship. The method can include determining whether the word stringincludes one or more predetermined items, and for each predetermineditem of the word string, processing the word string based on thepredetermined item. The index information can include noun information,adjective information, orientation information, or any combinationthereof.

In another embodiment, comparing includes, for each word in the wordstring, determining whether the word is an orientation word, if the wordis an orientation word, modifying the word string based on theorientation word. If the word is not an orientation word, determiningwhether one or more remaining words in the word string match a list ofpreceding terms, for each word that matches the list of preceding terms,recording a preceding relationship, determining whether one or moreremaining words in the word string match a list of anteceding terms, andfor each word that matches the list of anteceding terms, recording ananteceding relationship.

In another embodiment, the method includes determining at least one wordof the word string is not associated with a relationship, and processingone or more non-orientation words of the word string. Processing the oneor more non-orientation words can include, for each non-orientation wordof the word string, determining whether the non-orientation word isassociated with a build number. If the non-orientation word is notassociated with a build number, associating the non-orientation wordwith a generic build number, arranging the word string based on therelationship, determining whether the word string satisfies a properrelationship criteria, and if the word string does not satisfy theproper relationship criteria, logging the word string. The one or morepredetermined items can include one or more punctuation marks, one ormore joinable words, or any combination thereof.

In another embodiment, the data file can include an automobile insurancedemand file, and the one or more word strings can include one or morerepair part descriptions. The data file further includes one or morerecommended part descriptions for repair of the vehicle, and the one ormore rules associated with the data file are based on the one or morerecommended part descriptions for repair.

The invention, in another aspect, features a computerized auditingmethod. The method includes receiving, via a processor, a data filecomprising one or more auditable items, extracting, using the processor,a word string from each auditable item, translating, and using theprocessor, each word string using one or more translation steps into atranslated item description. The method includes, for each translateditem description, comparing, using the processor, the translated itemdescription to a plurality of terms, generating, using the processor, amatching table comprising one or more entries, wherein each entry of thematching table includes a matching term from the plurality of terms andmatching information, the matching information comprising a matchcharacteristic between the translated item description and the term andan item identifier, determining, using the processor, whether the matchcharacteristic for each entry is below a predetermined threshold. If thematch characteristic is below the predetermined threshold, removing,using the processor, the entry from the matching table. The methodincludes determining, using the processor, if one entry of the matchingtable includes a best match. The method includes, if one entry includesthe best match, associating, using the processor, the item identifier ofthe one entry with the translated item description. The method includes,if no entry includes the best match, determining, using the processor,whether a plurality of entries include a similar match indicator value,and if the plurality of entries include the similar match indicatorvalue, associating, using the processor, the item identifier for each ofthe plurality of entries with the translated item description, otherwiseassociating the translated item description with a no match indicator.The method includes accepting, using the processor, or rejecting eachauditable item associated with an item identifier based on the itemidentifier and one or more rules associated with the data file, andgenerating, using the processor, an audit report.

The invention, in another aspect, features a computerized auditingmethod. The method includes receiving, via a processor, a data filecomprising one or more auditable items, each auditable item comprising aword string having one or more words. The method includes translating,using the processor, each word string into a translated itemdescription. Translating includes determining, using the processor,whether the word string includes a primary name, if the word stringincludes a primary item name, calculating, using the processor, thetranslated item description based on the primary name, and if the wordstring does not include a primary item name, calculating, using theprocessor, the translated item description based on the last word of theword string. The method includes comparing, using the processor, eachtranslated item description to a plurality of predetermined terms togenerate matching information, associating, using the processor, eachtranslated item description with an item identifier based on thematching information, and accepting, using the processor, or rejectingeach auditable item based on the item identifier and one or more rulesassociated with the data file.

The invention, in another aspect, features a computerized auditingmethod. The method includes receiving, using the processor, a data filecomprising one or more auditable items, each auditable item comprising aword string having one or more words. The method includes translating,using the processor, each word string for each auditable item into atranslated item description. Translating each word string includesgenerating, using the processor, relationship information between two ormore words of the word string based on a classification of each word ofthe word string, determining, using the processor, whether each word ofthe word string is associated with the relationship information, if eachword of the word string is associated with the relationship information,calculate, using the processor, the translated item description based onthe relationship information, and if each word of the word string is notassociated with the relationship information, calculate, using theprocessor, the translated item description based on orderinginformation. The method includes comparing, using the processor, eachtranslated item description to a plurality of predetermined terms togenerate matching information. The method includes associating, usingthe processor, each translated item description with an item identifierbased on the matching information, and accepting, using the processor,or rejecting each auditable item based on the item identifier and one ormore rules associated with the data file.

The invention, in another aspect, features an apparatus. The auditingapparatus includes an auditing system configured to receive a data filecomprising one or more auditable items, each auditable item comprising aword string having one or more words. The auditing apparatus includes atranslator in communication with the auditing apparatus configured totranslate each word string for each auditable item using one or moretranslation steps into a translated item description, compare eachtranslated item description to a plurality of terms to generate matchinginformation, associate each translated item description with an itemidentifier based on the matching information, and accept or reject eachauditable item based on the item identifier and one or more rulesassociated with the data file.

In another embodiment, the apparatus includes a text recognition unit incommunication with the audit unit and the translator configured torecognize the text of the data file. The apparatus can include an outputunit configured to generate an audit report, the audit report comprisingan audit result for each auditable item of the data file. The apparatuscan include a database in communication with the translator configuredto store one or more rules, the one or more rules being used totranslate the word string.

The invention, in another aspect, features a computer program product,tangibly embodied in a computer readable storage medium. The computerprogram product includes instructions being operable to cause a dataprocessing apparatus to receive a data file comprising one or moreauditable items, each auditable item comprising a word string having oneor more words, translate each word string for each auditable item usingone or more translation steps into a translated item description,compare each translated item description to a plurality of terms togenerate matching information, associate each translated itemdescription with an item identifier based on the matching information,and accept or rejecting each auditable item based on the item identifierand one or more rules associated with the data file.

The invention, in another aspect, features an apparatus. The apparatusincludes means for receiving a data file comprising one or moreauditable items, each auditable item comprising a word string having oneor more words. The apparatus includes means for translating each wordstring for each auditable item using one or more translation steps intoa translated item description, comparing each translated itemdescription to a plurality of terms to generate matching information,associating each translated item description with an item identifierbased on the matching information, and accepting or rejecting eachauditable item based on the item identifier and one or more rulesassociated with the data file.

The invention, in another aspect, features a computerized auditingmethod. The method includes receiving, via a processor, a data filecomprising make model information, insurance company information, andone or more auditable items, each auditable item comprising a wordstring having one or more words. The method includes automaticallytranslating, using the processor, the make model information into avehicle identifier, the insurance company information into an insurancecompany identifier, and the one or more auditable items into one or moregroups of identifiers, wherein the one or more groups of identifiersincludes one or more part item identifiers, one or more operational itemidentifiers, or both. The method includes automatically generating,using the processor, a parts audit report based on the one or moregroups of identifiers, the parts audit report comprising data indicativeof whether one or more parts of the one or more auditable items isaccepted based on one or more rules associated with the insurancecompany identifier. The method includes automatically generating, usingthe processor, an operational audit report based on the one or moregroups of identifiers, the operational audit report comprising dataindicative of whether one or more operations of the one or moreauditable items is accepted based on one or more rules associated withthe insurance company identifier, and automatically generating, usingthe processor, a multi-point estimate based on the parts audit reportdata and the operational audit report data.

In another embodiment, automatically translating the make modelinformation into a vehicle identifier includes, for each word stringcomprising make model information, wherein the make model informationincludes one or more make fields and one or more model fields, preparingthe one or more model fields for translation by applying one or morerules from a plurality of rules, and associating each field of the oneor more model fields with a class from a list of classes, preparing theone or more make fields for translation by applying one or more rulesfrom the plurality of rules, associating each field of the one or moremake fields with one or more make model entries from a plurality ofpredetermined make model entries, associating each field of the one ormore model fields with one or more make model entries from the pluralityof predetermined make model entries, and automatically translating theword string into one or more vehicle identifiers based on the associatedmake model entries.

In another embodiment, the one or more make fields include a claim makefield and an estimate block make field, and the one or more model fieldsinclude a claim model field and an estimate block model field. Preparingthe one or more model fields for translation by applying one or morerules from a plurality of rules can include identifying a model in theone or more model fields that does not need processing, identifying twowords that must be combined into one word, and combining the two wordsinto one word, identifying a first word that must be separated into twowords, and separating the first word into two words, or identifying asecond word as a descriptive classification word, and standardizing aspelling of the second word, or any combination thereof.

In another embodiment, associating each field of the one or more makefields with one or more make model entries from a plurality ofpredetermined make model entries includes generating a temporarytranslation table, wherein each row of the temporary translation tableincludes a manufacturer field, a make field, a model superset field, anda model subset field, identifying a match of a make field of the one ormore make fields with a predetermined make model entry, and populating arow of the temporary translation table with match information.Automatically translating the insurance company information into aninsurance company identifier includes, wherein the insurance companyinformation includes data comprising one or more words, processing thedata through one or more processing steps to generate processed datacomprising one or more processed words, selecting one or more candidateword strings based on the one or more processed words, associatingmatching information with each of the one or more candidate wordstrings, generating analysis information for each of the one or morecandidate word strings based on the associated matching information, andassociating an insurance company identifier with received data based onthe analysis information and one or more matching rules.

In another embodiment, processing the data through one or moreprocessing steps to generate processed data comprising one or moreprocessed words includes identifying a hyphenated word and replacing thehyphenated word in the data indicative of an insurance company name witha predetermined word string, and identifying a state abbreviation word,identifying a position of the state abbreviation word in the dataindicative of an insurance company name, and associating an identifierwith the data indicative of the position, or identifying a punctuationmark in the data indicative of an insurance company name, inserting aspace before the punctuation mark, and inserting a space after thepunctuation mark, or any combination thereof. Processing the datathrough one or more processing steps to generate processed datacomprising one or more processed words can include determining whethereach word of the data is spelled correctly based on a predetermined listof words, and if a word is spelled incorrectly, associating the wordwith an identifier indicative of the word being spelled incorrectly, orif a word is spelled correctly, associating the word with an identifierindicative of the word being spelled correctly.

In another embodiment, selecting one or more candidate word stringsbased on the one or more processed words includes determining whetherthe data includes two or more words with a same usage number, selectinga first word in the data, wherein the first word has an earliestlocation in the data of the two or more words with the same usagenumber, and selecting the one or more candidate word strings based onthe first word. Generating analysis information for each of the one ormore candidate word strings based on the associated matching informationcan include determining whether a location word is in the data, thelocation word being indicative of an insurance company name, and ifthere is a location word, for each location word, determining a positionof the location word in the data indicative of an insurance companyname, and associating the word with an identifier indicative of theposition.

In another embodiment, automatically translating the one or moreauditable items into one or more groups of identifiers includes, foreach word string comprising auditable items, applying one or more rulesfrom a plurality of rules to the word string, wherein each rule isassociated with a logic for processing the word string, determiningwhether the word string contains one or more predetermined items, and ifthe word string contains one or more predetermined items, for eachpredetermined item, processing the word string based on thepredetermined item. The one or more rules can include one or morespecific item rules, one or more combination rules, or any combinationthereof. The one or more predetermined items can include one or moreterms, one or more punctuation marks, or any combination thereof.Automatically translating the one or more auditable items into one ormore groups of identifiers can include, for each word string comprisingauditable items, applying one or more combination rules to the wordstring, wherein each rule is associated with a logic for processing theword string, comparing the word string against a build table to generatea relationship between the one or more words of the word string, thebuild table comprising one or more index words, each index word beingassociated with index information, and generating the translated itemdescription based on the relationship. The multi-point estimate caninclude an audit estimate based on each line item of the data file,wherein each line item is automatically evaluated based on any remainingline items of the data file. Automatically translating the one or moreauditable items into an operational item identifier can includeautomatically translating an auditable item from the one or moreauditable items that does not involve a physical removal of a vehiclepart with a replacement of a replacement part in place of the removedvehicle part.

The invention, in another aspect, features an apparatus. The apparatusincludes an auditing system configured to receive a data file comprisingmake model information, insurance company information, and one or moreauditable items, each auditable item comprising a word string having oneor more words. The apparatus includes a make model translator incommunication with the auditing system configured to automaticallytranslate the make model information into a vehicle identifier. Theapparatus includes an insurance company name translator in communicationwith the make model translator configured to automatically translate theinsurance company information into an insurance company identifier. Theapparatus includes a parts translator in communication with theinsurance company name translator configured to automatically translatethe one or more auditable items into one or more groups of identifiers,wherein the one or more groups of identifiers includes one or more partitem identifiers, one or more operational item identifiers, or both. Theapparatus includes an output unit in communication with the auditingapparatus configured to automatically generate a parts audit reportbased on the one or more groups of identifiers, the parts audit reportcomprising data indicative of whether one or more parts of the one ormore auditable items is accepted based on one or more rules associatedwith the insurance company identifier. The output unit is furtherconfigured to automatically generate an operational audit report basedon the one or more groups of identifiers, the operational audit reportcomprising data indicative of whether one or more operations of the oneor more auditable items is accepted based on one or more rulesassociated with the insurance company identifier. The output unit isfurther configured to automatically generate a multi-point estimatebased on the parts audit report data and the operational audit reportdata.

The invention, in another aspect, features a computer program product,tangibly embodied in a computer readable storage medium. The computerprogram product includes instructions being operable to cause a dataprocessing apparatus to receive a data file comprising make modelinformation, insurance company information, and one or more auditableitems, each auditable item comprising a word string having one or morewords. The instructions are further operable to cause a data processingapparatus to automatically translate the make model information into avehicle identifier, the insurance company information into an insurancecompany identifier, and the one or more auditable items into one or moregroups of identifiers, wherein the one or more groups of identifiersincludes one or more part item identifiers, one or more operational itemidentifiers, or both. The instructions are further operable to cause adata processing apparatus to automatically generate a parts audit reportbased on the one or more groups of identifiers, the parts audit reportcomprising data indicative of whether one or more parts of the one ormore auditable items is accepted based on one or more rules associatedwith the insurance company identifier. The instructions are furtheroperable to cause a data processing apparatus to automatically generatean operational audit report based on the one or more groups ofidentifiers, the operational audit report comprising data indicative ofwhether one or more operations of the one or more auditable items isaccepted based on one or more rules associated with the insurancecompany identifier. The instructions are further operable to cause adata processing apparatus to automatically generate a multi-pointestimate based on the parts audit report data and the operational auditreport data.

The invention, in another aspect, features an auditing apparatus. Theauditing apparatus includes means for receiving a data file comprisingmake model information, insurance company information, and one or moreauditable items, each auditable item comprising a word string having oneor more words. The auditing apparatus includes means for automaticallytranslating the make model information into a vehicle identifier. Theauditing apparatus includes means for automatically translating theinsurance company information into an insurance company identifier. Theauditing apparatus includes means for automatically translating the oneor more auditable items into one or more groups of identifiers, whereinthe one or more groups of identifiers includes one or more part itemidentifiers, one or more operational item identifiers, or both. Theauditing apparatus includes means for automatically generating a partsaudit report based on the one or more groups of identifiers, the partsaudit report comprising data indicative of whether one or more parts ofthe one or more auditable items is accepted based on one or more rulesassociated with the insurance company identifier, automaticallygenerating an operational audit report based on the one or more groupsof identifiers, the operational audit report comprising data indicativeof whether one or more operations of the one or more auditable items isaccepted based on one or more rules associated with the insurancecompany identifier, and automatically generating a multi-point estimatebased on the parts audit report data and the operational audit reportdata.

The invention, in another aspect, features a computerized method. Themethod includes receiving data, via a processor, indicative of a vehiclemake and model, the data comprising one or more make fields and one ormore model fields. The method includes preparing, using the processor,the one or more model fields for translation by applying one or morerules from a plurality of rules, and associating each field of the oneor more model fields with a class from a list of classes. The methodincludes preparing, using the processor, the one or more make fields fortranslation by applying one or more rules from the plurality of rules,associating, using the processor, each field of the one or more makefields with one or more make model entries from a plurality ofpredetermined make model entries, associating, using the processor, eachfield of the one or more model fields with one or more make modelentries from the plurality of predetermined make model entries, andautomatically translating, using the processor, the data into one ormore vehicle identifiers based on the associated make model entries.

In another embodiment, the one or more make fields include a claim makefield and an estimate block make field, and the one or more model fieldsinclude a claim model field and an estimate block model field. Preparingthe one or more model fields for translation by applying one or morerules from a plurality of rules can include identifying a model in theone or more model fields that does not need processing, identifying twowords that must be combined into one word, and combining the two wordsinto one word, identifying a first word that must be separated into twowords, and separating the first word into two words, or identifying asecond word as a descriptive classification word, and standardizing aspelling of the second word, or any combination thereof.

In another embodiment, preparing the one or more model fields fortranslation by associating each field of the one or more model fieldswith the class from the list of classes includes identifying a vehiclemake of a make field of the one or more make fields is improper fortranslation, and terminating the translation; or determining a modelfield of the one or more model fields includes a truck, and applying oneor more rules to identify the truck, or any combination thereof. Themethod can further include determining a make field of the one or moremake fields includes a numeric value and a model field of the one ormore model fields does not include the numeric value, and inserting thenumeric value in the model field. Applying one or more rules to identifythe truck can include inserting one or more words, removing one or morewords, or both.

In another embodiment, preparing the one or more make fields fortranslation by applying one or more rules from the plurality of rulesincludes converting a make abbreviation in a make field of the one ormore make fields to an expanded spelling, or inserting a space betweeneach two word pair of all words of the one or more make fields, the oneor more model fields, or both to remove any excess spaces between thewords, or any combination thereof. Each of the one or more predeterminedmake model entries can include manufacturer information, makeinformation, and model information. Associating each field of the one ormore make fields with one or more make model entries from a plurality ofpredetermined make model entries can include generating a temporarytranslation table, wherein each row of the temporary translation tableincludes a manufacturer field, a make field, a model superset field, anda model subset field, identifying a match of a make field of the one ormore make fields with a predetermined make model entry, and populating arow of the temporary translation table with match information.

In another embodiment, identifying a match includes matching each wordin a word string of the make field with the predetermined make modelentry, and associating the match with a complete match indicator.Automatically translating the data into one or more vehicle identifiersbased on the associated make model entries can include analyzing thetemporary translation table to determine match information for each row,and translating the data into the one or more vehicle identifiers basedon the match information. The match information for each row can bebased on a number of field matches for the row and a match indicator forthe row. The method can further include determining the temporarytranslation table includes one row, and translating the data into theone or more vehicle identifiers based on the one row. The method caninclude determining the temporary translation table includes two or morerows with one or more matches in the model subset field, calculating agoodness value for each row, wherein the goodness value is based onmatch information for each row, a number of row matches, or anycombination thereof, and translating the data into the one or morevehicle identifiers based a row with a highest goodness value.

The invention, in another aspect, features an apparatus. The apparatusincludes an auditing system configured to receive data indicative of avehicle make and model, the data comprising one or more make fields andone or more model fields. The auditing apparatus includes a make modeltranslator in communication with the auditing system configured toprepare the one or more model fields for translation by applying one ormore rules from a plurality of rules, and associating each field of theone or more model fields with a class from a list of classes. Theauditing apparatus is configured to prepare the one or more make fieldsfor translation by applying one or more rules from the plurality ofrules. The auditing apparatus is configured to associate each field ofthe one or more make fields with one or more make model entries from aplurality of predetermined make model entries. The auditing apparatus isconfigured to associate each field of the one or more model fields withone or more make model entries from the plurality of predetermined makemodel entries. The auditing apparatus is configured to automaticallytranslate the data into one or more vehicle identifiers based on theassociated make model entries.

The invention, in another aspect, features a computer program product,tangibly embodied in a computer readable storage medium. The computerprogram product includes instructions being operable to cause a dataprocessing apparatus to receive data indicative of a vehicle make andmodel, the data comprising one or more make fields and one or more modelfields. The instructions are further operable to cause a data processingapparatus to prepare the one or more model fields for translation byapplying one or more rules from a plurality of rules, and associatingeach field of the one or more model fields with a class from a list ofclasses. The instructions are further operable to cause a dataprocessing apparatus to prepare the one or more make fields fortranslation by applying one or more rules from the plurality of rules.The instructions are further operable to cause a data processingapparatus to associate each field of the one or more make fields withone or more make model entries from a plurality of predetermined makemodel entries. The instructions are further operable to cause a dataprocessing apparatus to associate each field of the one or more modelfields with one or more make model entries from the plurality ofpredetermined make model entries. The instructions are further operableto cause a data processing apparatus to automatically translate the datainto one or more vehicle identifiers based on the associated make modelentries.

The invention, in another aspect, features an apparatus. The apparatusincludes means for receiving data indicative of a vehicle make andmodel, the data comprising one or more make fields and one or more modelfields. The apparatus includes means for preparing the one or more modelfields for translation by applying one or more rules from a plurality ofrules and associating each field of the one or more model fields with aclass from a list of classes, preparing the one or more make fields fortranslation by applying one or more rules from the plurality of rules,associating each field of the one or more make fields with one or moremake model entries from a plurality of predetermined make model entries,associating each field of the one or more model fields with one or moremake model entries from the plurality of predetermined make modelentries, and automatically translating the data into one or more vehicleidentifiers based on the associated make model entries.

The invention, in another aspect, features a computerized method. Themethod includes receiving, via a processor, data indicative of aninsurance company name, the data comprising one or more words,processing, using the processor, the data through one or more processingsteps to generate processed data comprising one or more processed words,selecting, using the processor, one or more candidate word strings basedon the one or more processed words, associating, using the processor,matching information with each of the one or more candidate wordstrings, generating, using the processor, analysis information for eachof the one or more candidate word strings based on the associatedmatching information, and associating, using the processor, an insurancecompany identifier with received data based on the analysis informationand one or more matching rules.

In another embodiment, processing the data through one or moreprocessing steps to generate processed data comprising one or moreprocessed words includes identifying a hyphenated word and replacing thehyphenated word in the data indicative of an insurance company name witha predetermined word string, identifying a state abbreviation word,identifying a position of the state abbreviation word in the dataindicative of an insurance company name, and associating an identifierwith the data indicative of the position, or identifying a punctuationmark in the data indicative of an insurance company name, inserting aspace before the punctuation mark, and inserting a space after thepunctuation mark, or any combination thereof.

In another embodiment, processing the data through one or moreprocessing steps to generate processed data comprising one or moreprocessed words includes determining whether each word of the data isspelled correctly based on a predetermined list of words, and if a wordis spelled incorrectly, associating the word with an identifierindicative of the word being spelled incorrectly, or if a word isspelled correctly, associating the word with an identifier indicative ofthe word being spelled correctly. The method can further includeassociating an identifier with each word of the data indicative of aword usage for the word, determining whether each word is a locationword, and if a word is a location word, associating the word with anidentifier indicative of the word being a location word. The method canfurther include generating processed data based on a number of words inthe data indicative of an insurance company name, a number of wordsassociated with an identifier indicative of the word being spelledcorrectly, or both.

In another embodiment, selecting one or more candidate word stringsbased on the one or more processed words includes identifying the dataindicative of an insurance company name includes a definitive wordpattern. Selecting one or more candidate word strings based on the oneor more processed words can include calculating a number of words in thedata indicative of an insurance company name and associating anidentifier indicative of the number of words with the data. Selectingone or more candidate word strings based on the one or more processedwords can include determining whether the data includes two or morewords with a same usage number. Selecting a first word in the data,wherein the first word has an earliest location in the data of the twoor more words with the same usage number, and selecting the one or morecandidate word strings based on the first word. The matching informationassociated with each of the one or more candidate word strings caninclude a number of words in the data indicative of an insurance companyname, a sequence of words in the data, an identifier indicative ofwhether a location word exists in the data, a location of a locationword in the data, or any combination thereof.

In another embodiment, generating analysis information for each of theone or more candidate word strings based on the associated matchinginformation includes determining whether a location word is in the data,the location word being indicative of an insurance company name, and ifthere is a location word, for each location word, determining a positionof the location word in the data indicative of an insurance companyname, and associating the word with an identifier indicative of theposition. The method can further include calculating a weighted wordmatch count based on a word usage number for the data indicative of aninsurance company name, the one or more candidate word strings, or both.The method can further include calculating a sequence number count basedon a difference in relative sequence of a lowest usage word in the dataindicative of an insurance company name and each of the one or morecandidate word strings. The lowest usage word can be a word used leastin the data indicative of an insurance company name. The method canfurther include calculating an average absolute sequence number countfor each of the one or more candidate word strings based on a differencein relative sequence of a word in the data indicative of an insurancecompany name and the candidate word string. Associating an insurancecompany identifier with received data based on the analysis informationand one or more matching rules can include associating the insurancecompany identifier based on a word usage number and a number ofcandidate word string matches.

The invention, in another aspect, features an apparatus. The apparatusincludes an auditing system configured to receive data indicative of aninsurance company name, the data comprising one or more words. Theapparatus includes an insurance company name translator in communicationwith the auditing system configured to process the data through one ormore processing steps to generate processed data comprising one or moreprocessed words. The insurance company name translator is furtherconfigured to select one or more candidate word strings based on the oneor more processed words. The insurance company name translator isfurther configured to associate matching information with each of theone or more candidate word strings. The insurance company nametranslator is further configured to generate analysis information foreach of the one or more candidate word strings based on the associatedmatching information. The insurance company name translator is furtherconfigured to associate an insurance company identifier with receiveddata based on the analysis information and one or more matching rules.

The invention, in another aspect, features a computer program product,tangibly embodied in a computer readable storage medium. The computerprogram product includes instructions being operable to cause a dataprocessing apparatus to receive data indicative of an insurance companyname, the data comprising one or more words. The instructions arefurther operable to cause a data processing apparatus to process thedata through one or more processing steps to generate processed datacomprising one or more processed words. The instructions are furtheroperable to cause a data processing apparatus to select one or morecandidate word strings based on the one or more processed words. Theinstructions are further operable to cause a data processing apparatusto associate matching information with each of the one or more candidateword strings. The instructions are further operable to cause a dataprocessing apparatus to generate analysis information for each of theone or more candidate word strings based on the associated matchinginformation. The instructions are further operable to cause a dataprocessing apparatus to associate an insurance company identifier withreceived data based on the analysis information and one or more matchingrules.

The invention, in another aspect, features an apparatus. The apparatusincludes means for receiving data indicative of an insurance companyname, the data comprising one or more words. The apparatus includesmeans for processing the data through one or more processing steps togenerate processed data comprising one or more processed words,selecting one or more candidate word strings based on the one or moreprocessed words, associating matching information with each of the oneor more candidate word strings, generating analysis information for eachof the one or more candidate word strings based on the associatedmatching information, and associating an insurance company identifierwith received data based on the analysis information and one or morematching rules.

The techniques described herein can provide one or more of the followingadvantages. Claims can be automatically converted from an imaged form toa digital or electronic form, reducing both the time and cost requiredto prepare a claim for review. Electronic claims can be automaticallytranslated and verified against rules associated with parts appropriateor approved for a specific vehicle, operations allowable or needed for aspecific vehicle repair, and other insurance company specific guidelinesimplemented as part of an insurance policy or the Company's bestpractices. Together and separately, each of these advantages reduce thetime and cost required to audit the claims and collectively and/orseparately improve the quality of the claim settlement and repair.

Better auditing can lead to not only better cost control but also betterauditing quality, which in turn positively impacts vehicle values forthe owners, quality of repairs for the owners, and insurance rates thatare tied in part to expense ratios. The personnel required to review theclaims are reduced, the quality is improved, and all claims are now ableto be automatically reviewed, which benefits both the consumer as wellas the parties involved in the claims process. Sets of rules used totranslate and verify the claims can be easily updated and modified,allowing the system and apparatus to grow to meet future demands. Inaddition to enabling auditing across many verticals of business, theautomation of claims processing and auditing enabled through thesetechniques enables automated settlement between parties, reducing thecost, time and personnel burden of cash settlement between theseparties.

Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, illustrating the principles of theinvention by way of example only.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention, as well as the invention itself, will be more fullyunderstood from the following description of various embodiments, whenread together with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary auditing systemnetwork;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an exemplary auditing system;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an exemplary method for automaticallygenerating a multi-point estimate;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an exemplary method for automaticallytranslating make and model data of a data file;

FIGS. 5A-5Y are flow charts of a more detailed method of the exemplarymethod of FIG. 4;

FIGS. 6A-6J are diagrams of exemplary tables for translating make andmodel data of a data file;

FIG. 6K is an exemplary diagram of a temporary make model translationtable;

FIG. 6L is an exemplary diagram of a match determination table;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an exemplary method for translating insurancedata of a data file;

FIGS. 8A-8R are diagrams of exemplary tables for translating insurancedata of a data file;

FIG. 8S is an exemplary diagram of processed words;

FIG. 8T is an exemplary diagram of two word strings of processed words;

FIG. 9A is a flow chart of an exemplary method for selecting candidateinsurance company name word strings;

FIG. 9B is a flow chart of an exemplary method for generating analysisinformation for one or more word strings;

FIG. 10A shows an exemplary graph 1000 for word position versus wordusage count;

FIGS. 10B-10D show exemplary string tables and exemplary analysis outputtables;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of an exemplary method for auditing a data file;

FIG. 12A is a flow chart of an exemplary method for initial processingof a word string during translation;

FIGS. 12B-12X are diagrams of exemplary tables for translating wordstrings;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of an exemplary method for translating a wordstring according to a first embodiment;

FIGS. 14A-14C is a flow chart of an exemplary method for translating aword string according to a second embodiment;

FIGS. 15A-15B is a flow chart of an exemplary method for matching atranslated word;

FIG. 16A is a screen shot of an exemplary demand file input into theauditing system; and

FIGS. 16B-16G are exemplary screen shots of an exemplary web utilityused to carry out features of the subject invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should be understood that the principles described herein are notlimited in application to the details of construction or the arrangementof components set forth in the following description or illustrated inthe following drawings. The principles can be embodied in otherembodiments and can be practiced or carried out in various ways. Also,it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used hereinis for the purpose of description and should not be regarded aslimiting.

Exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the drawings. Although thisspecification refers primarily to auditing replacement parts used inautomobile insurance claims, it should be understood that the subjectmatter described herein is applicable to any type of insurance claim,such as, for example, property insurance or medical insurance. It shouldbe noted that a plurality of hardware and software based devices, aswell as a plurality of different structural components can be utilizedto implement the invention. Furthermore, and as described in subsequentparagraphs, the specific configurations illustrated in the drawings areintended to exemplify embodiments of the principles described here inand that other alternative configurations are possible.

While some terms (e.g., matching terms and terms in the figures andassociated descriptions) are described in the specification in alluppercase letters, this is for exemplary purposes only, and it should beunderstood that the terms can be represented in any combination oflowercase and uppercase letters. Similarly, if terms are described inlowercase and/or uppercase letters, or any combination thereof, theterms can be represented in any combination of lowercase and uppercaseletters. Further, while some embodiments are described using tables,this is for exemplary purposes only and is not intended to be limiting.The number of columns and/or rows depicted in tables are for exemplarypurposes only. Any additional number of rows and/or columns can be addedto implement the principles presented below. Data can be stored in anydata structure, such as a table, a linked list, single ormulti-dimensional data array, circular array, and/or any other type ofdata structure.

In general overview, auditable items of a data file are translated intoa translated item description. Each translated item description iscompared to a plurality of predetermined terms to generate matchinginformation, and using the matching information each translated itemdescription is associated with an item identifier. Each auditable itemis accepted or rejected based on the item identifier and one or morerules associated with the data file.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary auditing systemnetwork 100. The auditing system network 100 includes client computers102A through 102N (collectively client computers 102) connected toauditing system 104 through network 106. An optional auditing systemmaintenance computer 108 is directly in communication with auditingsystem 104. The client computers 102 can be, for example, insurancecarriers.

The auditing system 104 may be any known computing system but ispreferably a programmable, processor-based system. For example, thecomputer 104 may include a microprocessor, a hard drive, random accessmemory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), input/output (I/O) circuitry, andany other well-known computer component. The computer 104 is preferablyadapted for use with various types of storage devices (persistent andremovable), such as, for example, a portable drive, magnetic storage(e.g., a floppy disk), solid state storage (e.g., a flash memory card),optical storage (e.g., a compact disc or CD), and/or network/Internetstorage. The computer 104 may comprise one or more computers, including,for example, a personal computer (e.g., an IBM-PC compatible computer)or a workstation (e.g., a SUN or Silicon Graphics workstation) operatingunder a Windows, MS-DOS, UNIX, or other suitable operating system andpreferably includes a graphical user interface (GUI).

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of auditing system 104 ofFIG. 1. The client computers 102 submit one or more data files 120 toauditing system 104. Data file 120 includes auditable items 121A through121N (collectively auditable items 121). The auditing system 104includes an optional text recognition unit 122. The text recognitionunit 122 is in communication with the part audit rules engine 124 andthe operational audit rules engine 126. The parts audit rules engine 124includes the make model translator 128, the insurance company nametranslator 130, and the part translator 132. The make model translator128 is in communication with the insurance company name translator 130.The parts translator 132 includes the first parts translator 134A andthe second parts translator 134B. The parts audit rules engine 124 andthe operational audit rules engine 126 is in communication with database136. The parts audit rules engine 124 and the operational audit rulesengine 126 are also in communication with output unit 138. Output unit138 outputs audit report 140.

Output unit 138 can include applications that use identifiers (e.g.,generated by the make model translator 128, the insurance company nametranslator 130, the parts translator 132, and/or the operational auditrules engine 126) to generate various types of reports. Output unit 138includes a parts auditing application 139A, an operational (ops)auditing application 139B, and a multi-point auditing application 139C(collectively, report applications 139). The output unit 138 can includeneed not include all of the auditing applications 139. In some examples,the multi-point auditing application 139C uses the output from the partsauditing application 139A and the ops auditing application 139B togenerate a multi-point audit report. The operation of these applicationsis described with reference to the figures below.

The control input unit 142 is in communication with the auditing system104. The control input unit 142 is used to transmit rules, guidelines,standards, responses, actions, and/or other control information to theauditing system 104. While the parts audit rules engine 124 is shown toinclude the make model translator 128, the insurance company nametranslator 130, and the parts translator 132, the components of theparts audit rules engine 124 can be implemented in one or more modules(e.g., software programs, hardware components). In some embodiments, thecontrol input unit 142 performs an inventory parts update. For example,once every pre-determined time period (e.g., every 24 hours) the controlinput unit 142 updates the inventory of parts stored in database 136 byadding any new parts and/or modifying existing parts.

The client computers 102 transmit the data file 120 to auditing system104 using, for example, fax, mail, email, a web service, or any othertype of communication tool. The data file 120 is entered, for example,manually, transmitted as an electronic data file, and/or transmitted asan image file. If the data file 120 is transmitted as an image file, thetext recognition unit 122 can translate the image into machine-editabletext fields (e.g., translate data file 120 into machine-editableauditable fields 120, where the auditable fields 120 include anassociated word string) for translation by translator 104. For example,text recognition unit 122 can perform an optical character recognition(OCR) of images of handwritten, typewritten, or printed data files(e.g., captured by a scanner as a PDF file) into machine-editable textfields. The parts translator 132 receives the output of themachine-editable text fields from the text recognition unit 122. In someembodiments, the auditing system 104 receives a machine-editable datafile 120, and the text recognition unit 122 can be omitted.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an exemplary method 300 for automaticallygenerating a multi-point estimate (i.e., a full, automated review of anestimate, as if performed by an actual person). The auditing system 104receives (302) a data file (e.g., data file 120) comprising make modelinformation, insurance company information, and one or more auditableitems (e.g., auditable items 121), each auditable item comprising a wordstring having one or more words. The auditing system 104 automaticallytranslates (304) the make model information into a vehicle identifier.The auditing system 104 automatically translates (306) the insurancecompany information into an insurance company identifier. The auditingsystem 104 automatically translates (308) the one or more auditableitems into one or more groups of identifiers. The one or more groups ofidentifiers can include one or more part item identifiers, one or moreoperational item identifiers, or both.

The auditing system 104 automatically generates (310) a parts auditreport based on the one or more groups of identifiers, the parts auditreport comprising data indicative of whether one or more parts of theone or more auditable items is accepted based on one or more rulesassociated with the insurance company identifier. The auditing system104 automatically generates (312) an operational audit report based onthe one or more groups of identifiers. The operational audit reportincludes data indicative of whether one or more operations of the one ormore auditable items is accepted based on one or more rules associatedwith the insurance company identifier. The auditing system 104automatically generates (314) a multi-point estimate based on the partsaudit report data and the operational audit report data.

With respect to step 304, the make model translator 128 translates themake model information into the vehicle identifier. This process isdescribed in further detail with reference to FIGS. 4-6L. With respectto step 306, the insurance company name translator 130 translates theinsurance company information into the insurance company identifier.This process is described in further detail with FIGS. 7-10D. Withrespect to step 308, the part translator 132 (e.g., the first partstranslator 134A, the second parts translator 134B, and/or both)translates one or more of the auditable items into one part itemidentifiers. This process is described in further detail with FIGS.12A-13. The operational audit rules engine 126 translates one or more ofthe auditable items into operational item identifiers (e.g.,repair/estimate operations). This process is described in further detailwith FIGS. 12 and 14A-14C.

In an exemplary embodiment, the translators (e.g., the translators ofthe part audit rules engine 124 and the operational audit rules engine126) take unstructured data (e.g., from the text recognition unit 122and/or from the data file 120 directly) and translate the outputs intoidentifiers recognized by the auditing system 104. These identifiers areprocessed through one (1), or a combination of three (3), auditprocesses (e.g., the parts auditing application 139A, the ops auditingapplication 139B, and/or the multi-point auditing application 139C).Advantageously, by developing multiple audit processes, the processescan work independently of each other, allowing an insurance company orother business to use them for specific needs. For example, an insurancecompany may desire to have an internal claims review team use the partsauditing services of the auditing system 104 (e.g., provided through theparts auditing application 139A) to confirm parts utilization onestimates. Or, the same insurance company may want to have repairestimates reviewed for accuracy of repair operations for vehicles beingrepaired (e.g., via the ops auditing application 139B). In anotherexample, an insurance company may want to have repair estimates reviewedin a completely automated process (e.g., via the multi-point auditingprocess 139C).

With respect to step 310, the auditing system 104 applies the partidentifiers to a database and application (e.g., the database 136 andthe parts auditing application 139A of FIG. 2) to audit for bestpractices and compliance to insurance policy guidelines, generating theparts audit report (“parts auditing” or “parts auditing services”). Ofsingle repair components, parts can have a large impact on overall claimseverity. The parts auditing component (e.g., the parts auditingapplication 139A, when used in conjunction with the other requiredcomponents of the auditing system 104) of the auditing system 104ensures accuracy in parts utilization on repair estimates. Partsauditing services deliver accurate parts inventory to appraisers,confirm parts availability for insurance company review teams,automatically approve part selections on behalf of insurers, anddocument historical availability for subrogation reviewers.

Existing services that are known in the art can help an insurancecompany locate parts for use in an estimate. These services can be foundonline (e.g., CarPart.com) or can be found inside the estimatingsoftware solutions used by appraisers. The online services are manualand require an appraiser to manually enter a website and search forspecific parts. The services inside an estimating software system aremore automated, but they only work for specific parts and also requirethe part to be associated with an accurate OEM number from themanufacturer. This OEM number is not always available (e.g., onlyapproximately 35% of the time), and the services are further restrictedby the limited number of parts that are supported.

The parts auditing component of the auditing system 104 utilizes partstranslators (e.g., the first parts translator 134 and the second partstranslator 134B) designed and developed as a means to: (1) takeinventory provided by part suppliers each day (e.g., over 140,000,000pieces of inventory daily) and translate them so that a part identifiercan be tagged on to each piece of inventory received, and (2) to takeestimate line item descriptions from repair estimates (e.g., data file120) and to translate and associate those line item descriptions with apart identifier.

Once the translators translate estimated line item details for partsinto a unique part identifier, the auditing system 104 can provide partalternatives by searching the database (e.g., database 136) for matchingidentifiers, filter out inventory not approved by an insurer, and/oraudit for compliance to specific part use guidelines of the insurer.Advantageously, because the auditing system 104 does not rely on OEMnumbers or a user to manually do the search, the parts auditingcomponent can be performed on all parts listed on an estimate becausethe process is automatic and complete.

With respect to step 312, the auditing system 104 applies operationalitem identifiers to a database and application (e.g., the database 136and the ops auditing application of FIG. 2) to audit for best practicesand compliance to insurance policy guidelines, generating theoperational audit report (“operational auditing” or “repair/operationauditing”). Operational auditing refers to the auditing of line items ona repair estimate (e.g., data file 120) that do not involve a physicalremoval of a vehicle part (i.e. a hood) with the replacement of areplacement part in place of the removed part. For example, operationalauditing includes auditing labor hours, auditing repair operations(e.g., recharging an AC compressor), auditing labor rates for a repairoperation, and auditing the number of hours it takes to remove andreplace a physical part (but not the audit of the part itself, just theoperation). Once an estimate file (e.g., data file 120) is converted(e.g., via text recognition unit 122, if necessary), it can be inputinto the automated auditing systems, and in this example the operationalauditing system (e.g., the ops auditing application 139B of FIG. 2).

Currently operational auditing system providers are limited withcapabilities. Each requires that the data is received in an electronicformat, the data received is associated on the same line of theestimate, and the data being audited is of a pre-defined value (e.g.,not any free text, semi-structured or un-structured data). Theselimitations make operational auditing inefficient and impractical inattempting to audit all claim estimates. Less than 50% of the industry'sclaim estimates are available in an electronic form so insurancecompanies cannot rely on an automated auditing solution. Additionally,because the only result from current operational auditing providers is aYES/NO result for an isolated line of an estimate data, the userencounters incomplete feedback from the auditing system and is requiredto review the materials manually to confirm.

For example, assume a repair estimate is received electronically (not asan image). Each line on the repair estimate identifies a repairoperation that must take place during the repair of the vehicle. Assumeline number fourteen (14) includes an operation code of “REPAIR”, a lineitem description inserted by the appraiser of “FULL FRAME”, a parttype/part number of “Existing”, and labor units of “9.0.” Currentoperational auditing systems can identify and understand an electroniccode for REPAIR and the labor units of 9.0, but cannot interpret orunderstand FULL FRAME because it is a written/typed description. Assuch, current operational auditing systems can only make decisions withan electronically received (formatted) repair estimate, and the resultof such systems can only take place with respect to a single line item(e.g., information from other lines can not be considered). Suchoperational auditing systems cannot consider parts information as itrelates to an operation.

Therefore, a rule that says do not allow FRAME labor to exceed 6 unitswould be run and line fourteen (14) would not fail because theoperational auditing system would not identify the line was associatedwith a FRAME repair. This would cause the insurance company toincorrectly allow a repair appraiser to have increased hours on linefourteen, and ultimately this “gap” in capability of the auditing systemproviders places a burden on the insurance company to manually checkeach estimate even after running the rules against the audit to know ifthe audit rule fired correctly. Advantageously, by translating FULLFRAME into a corresponding operational identifier, the operationalauditing application 139B of the auditing system 104 can properly applyoperational rules, eliminating the need for manual review and improperrule firing. If a repair estimate is not received electronically (e.g.,is received as an image), without the translators (e.g., the make modeltranslator 128, the insurance company name translator 130, and the partstranslator 132 of FIG. 2) the repair estimate file would need to beprocessed manually. As such, the auditing system 104 can automaticallytranslate both electronic and non-electronic files.

With respect to step 314, the auditing system combines identifiersand/or reports (e.g., the part identifiers and the operational itemidentifiers and/or the parts audit report and operational audit report)into an auditing application that would simulate a review of anestimate, as if performed by an actual person, generating a multi-pointestimate (“multi-point auditing”). Multi-point auditing enablesreal-time, fully automated review, audit and approval of a claim repairestimate, without human review.

Multi-point auditing can be achieved because the auditing system can,through it's various components, identify a data set and then understandwhat that data set means, for every field of every estimate detail,regardless of whether it is a part or operational line item (e.g., thetranslators can translate the required data into meaningful identifiersfor use by the auditing system 104). This capability enables not onlythe electronic auditing of claims or other data files, but it opens theroad for complete automation of approval, procurement and paymentactivities between insurers, repairers and suppliers into the claimsrepair process.

Multi-point auditing allows multiple data points, across a repairestimate, to be considered in whole so that a decision can be made aboutany specific line's accuracy or appropriateness. For example, assume adata file includes multiple line items, two of which are: (1) lineitem=six (6), operation=CHECK/ADJUST, line item description=HEADLAMPS,and labor units=“0.4”, and (2) line item=seven (7),operation=REMOVE/REPLACE, line item description=“L FRT COMBINATION LAMPASSEMBLY”, and labor units=“INC.” Conventional auditing systems known inthe art can not properly audit this line item combination forinappropriate labor operations (such as aiming headlamps). In themulti-point auditing process of the auditing system 104, the translators(e.g., the part translator 132) would have associated a part identifierto the description in line seven to mark it as a headlamp beingreplaced. The auditing system 104 would have kept track of such a detailfrom line seven (e.g., via storage in database 136) and scanned theremaining lines of the estimate to find that line six includes a laboroperation that would also be translated for a headlamp. The auditingsystem would store that information and use rules to deduce thatestimating software (e.g., Mitchell Ultra-Mate Estimating Software) addsenough labor for replacing a headlamp (line seven) to include the aimingoperation. The multi-point auditing would therefore alert the appraiserand the insurer that line six should be deleted, as the operation wasincluded in the cost of line seven.

Advantageously, repair estimates can be received, processed,reviewed/audited, and required changes (if they exist) can becommunicated back to the appraisal source and the insurer without humanintervention. Multi-point auditing can be performed on all claimsregardless of what format they are received (electronic or imaged).Additionally, the process for translating outputs of the conversionprocess can be applied to all types of forms. For example, medicalclaims can be audited, where billions of claims are dealt with annually,and all of them are rubber stamped and paid or audited with less thantrustworthy tools that require human review of the audit results afterthe fact. Advantageously, if all claims data can be converted to digitalform, the ability to enable procurement, real-time automated settlement,and many other features exists.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an exemplary method 400 for automaticallytranslating make and model data of a data file into a vehicleidentifier. FIGS. 5A-5Y are flow charts of a more detailed method of themethod 400 described with reference to FIG. 4. The auditing system 104receives (402) data indicative of a vehicle make and model, the datacomprising one or more make fields and one or more model fields. Themake model translator 128 prepares the one or more model fields fortranslation by applying (404) one or more rules from a plurality ofrules. The make model translator 128 prepares the one or more modelfields for translation by associating (406) each field of the one ormore model fields with a class from a list of classes. The make modeltranslator 128 prepares (408) the one or more make fields fortranslation by applying one or more rules from the plurality of rules.The make model translator 128 associates (410) each field of the one ormore make fields with one or more make model entries from a plurality ofpredetermined make model entries. The make model translator 128associates (412) each field of the one or more model fields with one ormore make model entries from the plurality of predetermined make modelentries. The make model translator 128 automatically translates (414)the data into one or more vehicle identifiers based on the associatedmake model entries.

Below is an example of a translation process (e.g., carried out by themake model translator 128) with reference to the steps of method 400 ofFIG. 4. In a preferred embodiment, the sequence of the steps ispreserved for the make model translation. However, in other examples thesteps can be executed in any order and in any combination withoutdetracting from the make model translation. For example, translationsteps can be added and removed as additional patterns are identifiedwithin insurance company names.

With respect to step 402, four primary pieces of information can beused: the claim block make field, the claim block model field, theestimate block make field, and the estimate block model field. The makemodel translator 128 can prepare the characters of the word strings ineach of the four fields for the translation process. The preparation caninclude, for example, separating all dissimilar types of characters forprocessing in the claim block make and model fields and the estimateblock make and model fields. In some examples, all alphanumeric wordsand the special character “&” may be split into two or more words byseparating the alpha and numeric and special characters from each otherby inserting a space between them. In some examples, if both the claimblock model field and the estimate block model field have numerics, andif the smaller numeric is a truncated version of the larger numeric(e.g., divided by 10 or 100) then the make model translator 128 can setboth numerics equal to the larger numeric (e.g., if one model field has3500 and the other model field has 35 or 350, then the make modeltranslator 128 sets both model fields to equal 3500). In some examples,if the claim block model field is empty and there are multiple words inthe claim block make field, then the make model translator 128 can copyall but the first word from the claim block make field word string intothe claim block model field.

With respect to step 404 of FIG. 4, the make model translator preparesthe one or more model fields for translation by applying one or morerules from a plurality of rules. As illustrative examples, the rules areconfigured to identify models in the claim block model field (e.g.,“motorcycles”) that may not need to be processed, find words that havebeen incorrectly separated and should be combined into a single word,find words that have been incorrectly combined that should be separatedinto two words, standardize spelling of descriptive classification words(e.g., “coupe” or “wagon”) through conversion of aliases orabbreviations, and identify a passenger car model.

In some examples, to identify models in the claim block model field(e.g., “motorcycles”) that may not need to be processed, the make modeltranslator 128 is configured to search for matches of the individualwords of the claim block model field word in a list (or table, such asan “Invalid Model Table”) An exemplary list of the invalid termsincludes, for example, MOTORCYCLE, MOTORCYCL, MOTORCYC, MOTORCY, MOTORC,CYCLE, CYCL, CYC, MOTOR CYCLE, MOTOR CYCL, MOTOR CYC, MOTOR CY, RG,HARLEY, and KAWASAKI. If a match occurs with an invalid term, the makemodel translator 128 can be configured to discontinue all testing of theclaim and estimate block data and stop processing the claim.

FIG. 6A is an exemplary table 600 for use when determining if words wereincorrectly separated. Table 600 includes six columns. The top row oftable 600 includes the column labels. Column 1 is the “Make” column,which lists exemplary vehicle makes (e.g., Saturn). Column 2 is the“Single Word Relationship” (“Single Rel.”) column, which lists wordsthat may be separated by one or more spaces into multiple words (e.g.,“allroad”, which may be contained in a field as the two words “all” and“road”). Columns 3 and 4 are labeled as the “Model Word 1” and “ModelWord 2” columns, respectively. For each row, columns 3 and 4 list wordswhich can be combined to the corresponding word in column 2. Columns 5and 6 are labeled as the “Make Constraint 1” and “Make Constraint 2”columns, respectively, and contain constraint information, if any, forother column values within each row. To find words that have beenincorrectly separated, the make model translator 128 can be configuredto test the claim block model field and the estimate block model fieldword string's words against columns 3 and 4, to find words in the wordstring that are separate and should be combined into the one word listedin column 2. In some examples, if two matches are found in a row, one ineach of columns 3 and 4, then the make model translator 128 deletes theexisting two words and replaces them with the single word shown incolumn 2. The make model translator 128 checks columns 5 and 6 todetermine if there is a match to the make field. If there is a match,the make model translator 128 does not replace model field with the wordin column 2.

FIG. 6B is an exemplary table 602 for use when determining if words havebeen incorrectly combined. Table 602 includes three columns, and the toprow indicates the column labels. Column 1 is the “Make” column andincludes exemplary vehicle makes. Column 2 is the “Dual WordRelationship” (Dual Word Rel.) column, and includes dual words that maybe improperly combined. Column 3 is the “Model Word 1” column, whichincludes, for each row, words that correspond to the dual wordrelationship words in column 2. To find words that have been incorrectlycombined, the make model translator 128 can test the claim block modelfield and the estimate block model field word string's words againstcolumn 3, to find words in the word string that are combined and shouldbe separated into the two words listed in the corresponding entry ofcolumn 2 for the particular row. In some examples, if one match is foundin a row, the make model translator 128 can be configured to delete theexisting word and replace it with the two words shown in column.

FIG. 6C is an exemplary table 604 for use when standardizing thespelling of descriptive classification words. Table 604 includes twocolumns, and the top row indicates the column labels. Column 1 is the“Classification Glossary” column, and column 2 is the “ClassificationAlias” column. The make model translator 128 can standardize thespelling of descriptive classification words, such as “coupe” or“wagon,” through conversion of aliases or abbreviations. The make modeltranslator 128 can run claim block model string words and estimate blockmodel string words through table 604. The make model translator 128 canreplace any matched words in column 2 from the model fields with thecorresponding word for the row in column 2.

The make model translator 128 can use rules to help identify a passengercar model. One exemplary rule is if the word “Somerset” is in the modelword string, then models “Regal” or “Regal Coupe” or “Regal Sedan”cannot be match. Another exemplary rule is if DEL is found in a modelfield and Honda is the make, then add SOL to the model field if it doesnot already exist in the field and delete all other words in that fieldexcept for DEL SOL (e.g., DEL SOL is two words). Vehicle makes can becoded in this manner. For example, Honda and all of its aliases can becoded into such a rule. The rule can be updated as additional aliasesare uncovered.

Another exemplary rule is if Fleetwood or one of its aliases is matchedas a model word and Chevrolet (or one of its aliases) is the make, thenreplace the make of Chevrolet and the model field with “invalid.”Another exemplary rule is if BMW is the “Make” and the “Model” fieldbegins with “Z” and contains the letter “M,” remove the letter “M.”Another exemplary rule is if the claim or estimate block make fieldcontains the word “Civic” and the associated model field contains theword “Hybrid” change the model field to “Civic Hybrid” and theassociated make field to “Honda.” Another exemplary rule is if the claimor estimate block make field contains the word “Accord” and theassociated model field contains the word “Hybrid” change the Model fieldto “Accord Hybrid” and the associated Make field to “Honda.”

Another exemplary rule is (a) if the claim or estimate block model fieldcontains “Blazer”, change model field to “BLAZER S 10” for followingconditions, model year 1995 and above, or model year 1994 and below and“FULLSIZE” not in model field. If (b) the claim or estimate block modelfield contains “Jimmy”, change model field to “JIMMY S 15” for followingconditions: model year 1995 and above, or model year 1994 and below and“FULLSIZE” not in model field. Another exemplary rule is if the claim orestimate block model field contains “SL” or “SW” and “1” or “2” andclaim and estimate block model field and style field doesn't contain“COUPE” and style field doesn't contain “SEDAN”, add “SEDAN” to style.Another exemplary rule is if the claim or estimate block model fieldcontains the words “Lesabre” and “Limited”, remove the word “Limited”from the associated model fields.

Another exemplary rule is if the claim or estimate block model fieldcontains the words “Deville” and “Concours”, then remove the word“Deville” from the associated model fields. Another exemplary rule is ifthe claim or estimate block model field contains the words “RANCHERO”and “GT” the remove the word “GT” from the associated model fields.Another exemplary rule is if the claim or estimate block make field hasthe word “Merc” and the associated claim or estimate field model fieldcontain any word that starts with any of the following letter sets:“BOB”, “CAP”, “COM”, “COU”, “GRA”, “LYN”, “MAR”, “MET”, “MON”, “MOU”,“MYS”, “SAB”, “TOP”, “TRA”, “VIL”, “ZEP”, then change the associatedmake field to “Mercury.” Otherwise, if there is not a match, change theassociated make field to “Mercedes Benz”.

Another exemplary rule is if the claim or estimate block make fieldcontains the word “Dodge” and the associated model field contains any ofthe following number sets “1500”, “2500”, “3500”, but does not containthe word “RAM” in either the claim or estimate block model fields, thenadd the word “Pickup” to the associated model field. Another exemplaryrule is if the word “DODGE” and “RAM” found in claim or estimate blockmake field, remove “RAM” from claim or estimate block make field and add“RAM PICKUP” to claim and estimate block model field. Another exemplaryrule is if the claim or estimate block model field contains the words“Mustang” and “GT” the remove the word “GT” from the associated modelfields. Another exemplary rule is if the claim or estimate block makefield has the words “Dodge” and the associated model field has the word“INTR” change the associated model field to “Intrepid”. Anotherexemplary rule is if the claim or estimate block make field has thewords “Oldsmobile” and the associated model field has the word “INTR”change the associated model field to “Intrigue”.

Another exemplary rule is if the claim or estimate block make field hasthe words “Eagle” and the associated model field has the words “Eagle”and “Talon”, remove the word “Eagle” from the associated model field.Another exemplary rule is if the claim or estimate block make field hasthe words “MINI” and the associated model field has the word “COOPER”add the word “MINI” to the associated model field and remove the word“MINI” form the make field and add the word “BMW” to the make field.Another exemplary rule is if claim or estimate block make field contains“Chevrolet” or alias and claim or estimate block model field containsPrizm or alias, then set the make to GEO and model to PRIZM. Anotherexemplary rule is if the estimate or claim block make field has the word“Subaru” and the associated model field has the two words “GL” and “XT”then remove the word “GL” from the model field.

Another exemplary rule is if the estimate or claim block make field hasthe word “Toyota” or alias and the associated model field has the word“Seinna” or alias, change the make field to “Toyota” and model field to“Seinna”. If the estimate or claim block make field has the word“Nissan” or alias and the associated model field has the word “Armada”or alias, change the make field to “Nissan” and the model field to“Armada”. Another exemplary rule is if the estimate or claim block makefield has the word “Infiniti” or alias and the associated model fieldhas the word “QX 56”, change the make field to “Infiniti” and modelfield to “QX 56”. Another exemplary rule is if the estimate or claimblock make field has the word “BUICK” or alias and the associated modelfield has the word “Century” or alias, then change the make field to“Buick” and the model field to “Century”. Another exemplary rule is ifthe estimate or claim block model field has the word “METRO” or alias,Change the make field to “GEO” and the model field to “METRO”.

Another exemplary rule is if the estimate or claim block make field hasthe word “FORD” or alias and the associated model field has the word“PROBE” or alias, then change the make field to “FORD” and model fieldto “PROBE”. Another exemplary rule is if the estimate or claim blockmake field has the word “MERCEDES BENZ” or alias and the associatedmodel field has the word “430” and the letter “E”, then change the makefield to “MERCEDES BENZ” and the model field to “E CLASS”.

With respect to step 406, the make model translator 128 can, forexample, identify and flag vehicle makes for different reports,determine if the model is a truck, and use rules to determine what thetruck is. FIG. 6D is an exemplary table 606 for use when identifyingrecreational vehicles. Column 1 is labeled “Invalid Make Table” andcontains various listings of recreational vehicles. The make modeltranslator 128 can identify and flag makes that are recreationalvehicles (RVs) for special reports but standard processing. The specialreport can be, at the end of the processing, to send an email. The makemodel translator 128 runs all claim and estimate block make fieldsthrough column 1. If a match is found (e.g., either the first word orone of its aliases, which are listed as subsequent words in rows thatcontain more than one word) and it is the only word in the make field,then the make model translator 128 can flag the claim as “RV” and placethe make name in the RV make field, delete the matched word in the claimor estimate block make field and continue to process on the other claimor estimate block field information. The “RV” field and “RV Make” fieldsare new fields that can be added to the table in the audit record.

FIG. 6E is an exemplary table 608 for use when determining if the modelis a truck. Table 608 includes three columns, with the top row includingthe label for each column. Column 1 is the “Make” column, column 2 isthe “Model Word 1” column, and column 3 is the “Model Word 2” column.The make model translator 128 can determine if the translation processis dealing with a model that has the name of a truck by, for example,determining if the words for any particular row in table 608 match thewords in the word string of the fields of the claim or estimate modelblocks. Not all words in the estimate and claim block fields need to bematched. If there is a match, then the make model translator 128 canperform a number of steps. First, the make model translator 128 can runa check on both the claim block model field and the estimate block modelfield to determine if both fields have a matched row in table 608. Ifboth the claim block model field and the estimate block model field donot have a match in table 608 (e.g., only one field has a match) thencontinue in sequence skipping the remaining steps. If both have a matchand the two matches are different, then skip to running the rules asdescribed below.

Second, if there is a numeric in either the claim block model field orthe estimate block model field, but not both, then the make modeltranslator 128 adds the numeric to the field that does not have anumeric. Third, if there are no numerics in the claim and estimate blockmodel fields but a truck name was identified in one of the model fields,then the make model translator 128 can add the truck name matched to theclaim or estimate block model field that did not have the match. Lastly,the make model translator 128 deletes all other words in the claim andestimate block model fields word strings, besides the truck name matchedand the numeric. These steps are for exemplary purposes and are notintended to be limiting.

The make model translator 128 can use one or more rules to clarify whatparticular truck the claim (data file) involves. One exemplary rule isif PICKUP (or one of its aliases) is in a model field and is the onlyword in the model field, delete the word PICKUP unless the make isISUZU, JEEP, MAZDA, MERCEDES BENZ, MITSUBISHI, NISSAN, or TOYOTA (or analias of one of the vehicle makes). FIG. 6F is a diagram of an exemplarytable 610 for use when determining an alias. Table 610 includes twocolumns, column 1 labeled “Make Alias Word 1” and column 2 labeled “MakeAlias Word 2”, each of which includes aliases for which the first termin the list of terms for a row represents the base word (e.g., “ISUZU”for the first data row is the base word, and “Isuz”, “ISU”, “ISZU”, and“ISZ” are alias words).

FIG. 6G is a diagram of an exemplary table 612 for use when determininga style to exclude. Table 612 includes four columns, the top-most columnincluding the column labels. Column 1 is the “Make” column, column 2 isthe “Model Word 1” column, column 3 is the “Model Word 2” column, andcolumn 3 is the “Model Word 3” column. Each row includes a make incolumn 1, and one or more model terms in columns 2-4. The make modeltranslator 128 can be configured to, for all models except those shownin table 612 (e.g., columns 2-4), concatenate the style information tothe model word string using three steps, which are not intended to belimiting and are for illustrative purposes. First, if a model field isempty, the make model translator 128 does not add any style to thatfield. Second, if all of the words in a row of table 612 match the wordsin the model word string for either the claim block or the estimatemodel field, the make model translator 128 does not add style to eitherthe current claim block or estimate block model fields. All words in theclaim block or estimate block model word strings do not need to bematched. Third, if no words are found to match in table 612 then themake model translator 128 tests the words in the style word stringagainst table 604 of FIG. 6C and adds the matched words, replacing theoriginal words in the string that were matched.

Another exemplary rule is if “E” precedes any numbers and Ford is the“make” or “manufacturer”, add the word “Van” to the claim and estimateblock model names unless it causes duplication. Another exemplary ruleis if the make is Dodge and the letters “BR” directly precede thenumbers “1500”, or “2500”, or “3500” —change the “BR” to the word“pickup”. Another exemplary rule is if the make is Mazda and the letters“B” directly precede the numbers “1600”, “1800”, “2000”, “2200”, “2300”,“2500”, “2600”, “3000”, or “4000” in the model field, then add the word“pickup”. Another exemplary rule is if the claim block and estimateblock for models match except for the fact that one has the words“SUPERDUTY”, then add the words “SUPERDUTY” to the block that does nothave it. Another exemplary rule is if SUBURBAN is matched in a modelfield, then change the make to CHEVROLET.

Another exemplary rule is if a match is on a row with S10 but “S” is notmatched in the superset columns then S10 cannot be the match, and skipthe S10 row. Another exemplary rule is if “S” and “10” have been matchedin a model field, then the Model ID for “10 Series Truck” cannot be amatch. Another exemplary rule is if “S” and “10” are found in either theestimate block model field or the claim block model field, then add “S”and “10” to both the claim block model field and the estimate blockmodel field, remove any other single letters or numbers or words withthe exception of “Blazer”, and if “Blazer” is found in either the claimblock model field or the estimate block model field, add “Blazer” toboth the claim block and estimate block fields and remove any other textunless it is “S10”.

Another exemplary rule is if CIERA or one of its aliases is found in amodel field and Cutlass (or one of Cutlass aliases) is also found,delete the word CUTLASS (or its alias) and continue in sequence. Anotherexemplary rule is if CALAIS or one of its aliases is found in a modelfield and Cutlass (or one of Cutlass aliases) is also found, delete theword CUTLASS (or its alias) and continue in sequence. Another exemplaryrule is if OLDSMOBILE or one of its aliases is matched as a make and“Ninety” or one of its aliases is matched, then the row in table 616 ofFIGS. 6I-6J including Oldsmobile with EIGHTY EIGHT in the MODEL column(not shown as an entry in FIGS. 6I-6J) cannot be a match (e.g., skipthis row). Another exemplary rule is if Solara or one of its aliases ismatched in a model filed, then delete all words in the model fieldexcept SOLARA or it alias.

Another exemplary rule is if Voyager or one of its aliases is in theestimate block model field, then delete all other words except Voyagerin both claim block model field and estimate block model field. IfVoyager or one of its aliases is in the claim block model field, thendelete all other words except Voyager in the claim block model. Anotherexemplary rule is if the claim or estimate block Model field is emptyand the associated manufacturing field has a text string plus one of thefollowing numbers preceding or following a term from the list “10, 20,100, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, or3500”, then add the number to the associated model field and remove itfrom the manufacturing field.

Another exemplary rule is if the claim or estimate block make field hasthe two words “Dodge” and “RAM”, then remove the word “RAM” from themake field and add the words “RAM” and “Pickup” to the associated modelfield. Another exemplary rule is if the claim or estimate block makefield has the words “Dodge” and the associated model field has the words“Dakota” and “Pickup” remove the word “Pickup” from the associated modelfield.

With respect to step 408, the make model translator 128 prepares the oneor more make fields for translation by applying one or more rules fromthe plurality of rules. In some embodiments, the make model translator128 converts make abbreviations to a corresponding corrected, expandedspelling.

FIG. 6H is a diagram of an exemplary table 614 for use when aliasingmake classifications. Table 614 includes two columns, column 1 labeled“Make Classification Glossary,” and column 2 labeled “MakeClassification Alias.” The make model translator 128 can run words inthe make fields through column 1 and convert any matching abbreviationsto the correct spelling of the corresponding entry in column 2 for amatching row. In some examples the make model translator 128 replacesnon-text characters by spaces (e.g., replaces comas, quotes, hyphens,back slashes, etc.). The make model translator 128 can exclude somenon-text characters from replacement (e.g., an ampersand (&)).

In some examples, the make model translator 128 cleans up the wordstrings after the previous adjustments (e.g., steps 404-408). The makemodel translator 128 separates all words by one space (where a word is agroup of text characters preceded and followed by a space, including thefirst word in the word string that may not be preceded by a space andthe last word in the word string that may not be followed by a space) toremove any excess spaces. If the make model translator 128 determinesthere are duplicate words within the word string, the make modeltranslator 128 can be configured to delete the duplicative words.

With respect to step 410, the make model translator 128 associates eachfield of the one or more make fields with one or more make model entriesfrom a plurality of predetermined make model entries. In some examples,the make model translator 128 uses a table to match the words in theclaim and estimate block make fields with various predetermined makemodel entries.

FIGS. 6I and 6J are a diagram of an exemplary Table 616 for use whenassociating manufacturer, make, and model information. Table 616includes twenty-four columns, with the first eleven columns shown inFIG. 6I and the remaining thirteen columns shown in FIG. 6J. Column 1 islabeled “Change Flag Y/N” (F) and is used to indicate during theupdating process and prior to loading that a change has been made tothat row in Table 616. Column 2 is labeled “Index Number” (I), whichprovides a unique index number for each row of table 616. Column 3 islabeled “Manufacturer” (MFG) and includes manufacturer information, andcolumn 4 is labeled “Make” and includes make information. Columns 5-9,which are labeled “Superset (N=DO NOT SHOW)” (S), “Model”, “HQ Model ID”(ID), “HQ Subset ID” (SS ID), and “Model Subset”, respectively, containinformation regarding the vehicle model for each row. Columns 10 and 11,labeled “Manufacturer” (MFG 1 and MFG 2), contain manufacturerinformation. Columns 12 and 13, labeled “Make” (MAKE 1 and MAKE 2),contain make information. Columns 14-23 contain model information, andcan be divided into two groups: columns 14-18 which relate to modelsuperset word sets, and columns 19-23, which relate to model subset wordsets. Columns 14-18 are labeled “First Word”, “Second Word” (2), “ThirdWord” (3), “Fourth Word” (4), and “Fifth Word” (5), respectively.Similarly, columns 19-23 are labeled “First Word”, “Second Word” (2),“Third Word” (3), “Fourth Word” (4), and “Fifth Word” (5), respectively.Column 24 is labeled “Duplicate” (DUP?) and indicates whether any of theentries in the able are duplicative (e.g., the make model translator 128determines if there is a duplication between the entry in the HQ ModelID column and the HQ SubSet ID, taking into account that the rules donot allow a HQ SubSet ID without an entry in the Model Subset column).The aliases in table 616 can be specific to a manufacturer/make/modelcombinations.

FIG. 6K is an exemplary diagram of a make model temporary translationtable 640. The temporary translation table 640 includes a manufacturerfield 642, a make field 644, and model superset field 646, and a modelsubset field 648. The make model translator 128 populates the fields ofa row when the make model translator identifies a match, as described infurther detail below. The diagram of the temporary translation table 640is intended for illustrative purposes, and can have any number of rowsand/or columns as necessary to facilitate a make model translation.

The make model translator 128 uses table 616 of FIGS. 6I and 6J to matchthe words in the claim and estimate block make fields to the variousinformation contained in each row and column. For example, the makemodel translator 128 compares word strings in the make fields againstboth the “Manufacturer” and “Make” columns, columns 2 and 3. When doingthis comparison, the make model translator 128 keeps track of the “hitrate” for matches. The hit rate is the count of make matches divided bythe number of words required for a perfect translation when matchingmake words, or the count of manufacturer matches divided by the numberof words required for a perfect translation when matching manufacturerwords.

An example of aliasing using table 616 is provided below, using thetemporary translation table 640 of FIG. 6K. First (“the first step”),the make model translator 128 tests each word in the claim block makeword string, and searches for makes in table 616, beginning in column 12and ending in column 13. The make model translator 128 tests each wordin the string against every word in each row's word set. If any wordsare matched in the rows word set, then the make model translator 128determines there is a match and a solid row match. For each match, themake model translator 128 calculates the percentage by counting thenumber of unique matches, dividing by the number of words for a perfecttranslation, and multiplying by 100. The make model translator 128 loadsthe row number (from column 2 of table 616), percent, manufacturer'sname (from column 3 of table 616), make name (from column 4 of table616), and super set and sub set information (super set information isfrom columns 14-18, the “First Word”, “Second Word”, “Third Word”,“Fourth Word”, and “Fifth Word” columns of FIG. 6J, and the sub setinformation is from columns 19-23, the “First Word”, “Second Word”,“Third Word”, “Fourth Word”, and “Fifth Word” columns, if available, oftable 616 of FIG. 6J) model name into the temporary translation table640. In some examples, the row information and hit information is loadedinto the temporary translation table 640, while other information is notloaded in since the information is easily retrievable.

The make model translator 128 repeats the first step above through therest of the rows with a corresponding matching make in the make columns12 and 13 until completed. If matches occur, then the make modeltranslator 128 performs the second step below. In the first step, themake model translator 128 also tests each word in the claim block makeword string and search for makes beginning (instead of with columns 12and 13) in the manufacturer column 10, and ending in column 11. The makemodel translator 128 tests each word in the string against every word ineach row's word set. If any words are matched in the rows word set, thenthe make model translator 128 identifies a match and a solid row match,and calculates the percentage and loads the pertinent information intothe temporary translation table 640 as described above. Second (“thesecond step”), the make model translator tests each word in the estimateblock make word string and searches for makes in both columns 12 and 13and then columns 10 and 11 as described above with reference to testingthe claim block make word string.

With respect to step 412, the make model translator 128 associates eachfield of the one or more model fields with one or more make modelentries from the plurality of predetermined make model entries (e.g.,the entries in table 616). As indicated above, the aliases in table 616are specific to a manufacturer/make/model combination. The make modeltranslator 128 receives and/or can act on more detailed modelinformation in some cases. Advantageously, the make model translator 128can further narrow down the parts for a vehicle within the model series.The more specific model information is called the subset, where the moregeneral model information is called the superset (where every subset isthe child of a superset. For the subset calculation, the hit rate is thecount of unique matches. For the superset, the hit rate is the count ofunique matches.

The make model translator 128 tests each word in the claim block modelword string and search for models in table 616, in the model subset wordsets, beginning at columns 19 and ending at column 23 (i.e., throughcolumns 19 and 23, inclusive), for those rows that had manufacturer ormake matches in them from the rules associated with step 410 above. Themake model translator 128 tests each word in the string against everyword in each row's word set. If all words from each column are matchedin the rows sub set word set, then the make model translator 128identifies a 100% match and a solid row match. If the make modeltranslator determines a less than a perfect match with the word set, thematch is not treated as a match.

For each 100% match, the make model translator 128 loads the row number,percent, manufacturer name, make name, superset & subset model name intoclaim block information in the temporary translation table 640. The makemodel translator 128 repeats the matching process through the rest ofthe sub set column's rows until completed. If a match has been found inthe subset the super set column does not need to be tested. Otherwise,the make model translator 128 tests each word in the claim block modelword string and search for models in table 616 in the superset columns,beginning in the super set column 14 and ending in superset column 18,for those rows that had manufacturer or make matches in them from therules of step 410. The make model translator 128 tests each word in thestring against every word in each row's word set. If any words arematched in the rows word set then we have a match and a solid row match.If multiple rows are matched with the exact same vehicle description(e.g., manufacturer, make, and superset model), the make modeltranslator 128 deletes all but one of the identical rows. The make modeltranslator calculates the percentage by counting the number of matches,dividing by the number of words for a perfect translation, andmultiplying the quotient by 100. The make model translator loads the rownumber, percent, manufacturer name, make name, superset & subset (ifavailable) model name into claim block information in the temporarytranslation table 640. The make model translator 128 repeats the processthrough the rest of the super set column's rows until completed. Ifthere are no model matches in the rows where there have been makematches, then the make model translator 128 repeats the test on all ofthe make's manufacturer's rows in table 616 for a model subset match andthen model superset match as described above.

The make model translator 128 searches for invalid model matches in theestimate block model word string (e.g., MOTORCYCLE, RG, HARLEY,KAWASAKI, etc.). If a match occurs discontinue all testing of claim andestimate block data and indicate there is no translation available.Otherwise, the make model translator 128 tests each word in the estimateblock model word string and searches for models in table 616, beginningin the subset column 19 and ending in subset column 23, as well asbeginning at superset column 14 and ending at superset column 18, ifnecessary, as described above for matching the claim block model wordstring for those rows that had manufacturer or make matches in them fromrules in step 410.

With respect to step 414, the make model translator 128 determines thebest translation. The method 400 started with four pieces ofinformation, the four fields of “manufacturer/make” and “model” for theclaims and estimating blocks. Through steps 404-412, each has now beenconverted into lists of candidates in the temporary translation table640. Each has a percent match weighting with how well the original fieldword string matched with the particular candidate word set. Now, thetemporary translation table 640 as populated can have three differentlevels of row matches: 4-way, 3-way, and 2-way, each of which have thepotential of different confidence weighting.

For example, the subset takes precedence if the subset is a perfect 2for 2 match or when it is a 100% match. If the subset is not a 100%match, then the subset is considered 0%, and only matches in thesuperset are considered. Due to the ranges for these match sets, thematch sets can overlap and cause ties. The following exemplary breakdownshows the extremes and averages of the matched sets:

a best match is a 4-way match (e.g., a match across all four fields ofthe temporary translation table 640, which can be represented by thenumber one (1)) with a weighting range of 100% to 75%, AVERAGE (87.50%);

a second best match is either a 4-way match with a weighting range of75% to 50%, AVERAGE (62.50%), or a 3-way match with an weighting rangeof 100% to 75%, AVERAGE (87.50%);

a third best match is either a 4-way match with a weighting range of 50%to 25%, AVERAGE (37.50%), a 3-way match with a weighting range of 75% to50%, AVERAGE (62.50%), or a 2-way match with an weighting range of 100%to 75%, AVERAGE (87.50%);

a fourth best match is either a 4-way match with a weighting range of25% to 0%, AVERAGE (12.50%), a 3-way match with a weighting range of 50%to 25%, AVERAGE (37.50%), or a 2-way match with an weighting range of75% to 50%, AVERAGE (62.50%);

a fifth best match is either a 3-way match with an weighting range of25% to 0%, AVERAGE (12.50%), or a 2-way match with an weighting range of50% to 25%, AVERAGE (37.50%);

a sixth best match is a 2-way match with a weighting range of 25% to 0%,AVERAGE (12.50%);

and lastly is a no match.

An exemplary way to create 4-way, 3-way and 2-way average weights andgoodness values for the match set is to use equations 1 through 4:

$\begin{matrix}{Y_{Total} = {\frac{10}{25} \times \frac{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{n}X_{i}}{n}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 1} \\{Y_{4\text{-}{way}} = {\frac{1}{25} \times \frac{X_{1} + X_{2} + X_{3} + X_{4}}{4}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 2} \\{Y_{3\text{-}{way}} = {\frac{1}{25} \times \frac{X_{1} + X_{2} + X_{3}}{3}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 3} \\{Y_{2\text{-}{way}} = {\frac{1}{25} \times \frac{X_{1} + X_{2}}{2}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 4}\end{matrix}$

where:

-   Y=the “goodness zone value”, where the higher the Y value is, the    better the match;-   X=the individual “hit percentage ratings” for each row; and-   n=the number of row matches.

In some embodiments, because the four pieces of information the makemodel translator 128 is using are not deemed equal in value. Forexample, the model information is rated higher than make information,and estimate information is rated higher than claim information. For theexample below, assume:

-   A=claim block make information;-   B=claim block model information (precedent);-   C=estimate block make information (preferred); and-   D=estimate block model information (precedent and preferred).

Using the above definitions, and also the fact that make to make matchescarry insufficient information, there are certain match possibilitiescombined with information preferences and precedents. A four-way (4-way)match possibility is ABCD. Three-way (3-way) match possibilities includeBCD, ACD, ABC, and ABD. Two-way (2-way) match possibilities include: CD,CB, AD, AB, BD, and AC.

The make model translator 128 checks for the best translation in table616. FIG. 6L is an exemplary diagram of a match determination table 650.The match determination table 650 includes hit percentage—weightingfields 652 and proposed translation fields 654. Hit percentage—weightingfields 652 includes claim block fields 656 and estimate block fields658. The claim block fields 656 includes make field 656A and modelfields super 656B and subset 656C. The estimate block fields 658 includemake field 658A and model fields super 658B and subset 658C. Theproposed translation fields 654 include the make fields 660 and modelfields 662. The make fields include the manufacturer (mfg) field 660Aand the make field 660B. The model fields 662 include the super field662A and the subset field 662B. The match determination table 650 alsoincludes a row # indicator 664.

The make model translator 128 creates a temporary instance of the matchdetermination table 650. The make model translator 128 pulls all rowmatches from the temporary translation table 640, which includes 4-way,3-way, 2-way, and 1-way matches. Since there may be matches from thesame row, all manufacturer, make, superset, and subset information willbe the same and therefore only needs to be entered once into the matchdetermination table 650. As the 4 or 3 or 2 pieces of information arecopied/written into the match determination table 650, the make modeltranslator 128 transfers the hit percentage into the appropriate columnof the match determination Table 650.

Below is an exemplary list of rules the make model translator 128 canuse to govern the determination of a match. This listing is not intendedto be limiting. If there is only one row with a subset match (e.g., themake model translator 128 determines a particular row of the matchdetermination table 650 has a subset match and there is only one rowwith a subset match), the make model translator 128 deletes all otherrows, indicates the remaining row contains the translation, and move tothe completion steps. If, however, there is more than one row, the makemodel translator 128 deletes duplicates.

If the make model translator 128 determines there are multiple subsetmatches, the make model translator 128 calculates the goodness valueusing Equation 3 for all rows, and selects the highest goodness valve asthe translation, and move to the completion steps. If this not the casecontinue in sequence. In the case of a tie, the make model translator128 calculates the goodness value of the estimate block matches only andselect the highest goodness value; or we can select an estimate blocksubset hit over a claim block subset hit. If there is still a tiebetween multiple rows, the make model translator 128 checks to see ifthe individual components of the goodness value for each row are all at100% (e.g., Y1=(1/25)*((100%+100%+100%)/3)=4 orY2=(1/25)*((100%+100%+100%)/3)=4). If so, the make model translator 128multiplies each component of each row by the number of words for aperfect translation in each component word field. For example, if Y1 has(a) a make equal to Chevrolet, which has one word for a perfecttranslation, and (b) a model equal to s and 10, each with two words fora perfect translation, for a claim make and model match and only aestimate model match, then Y1=(1/25)*(([100%]*1+[100%]*2+[100%]*2)/3)}=6.64. As another example, if Y equalto Chevrolet, which has one word for a perfect translation, and (b) amodel equal to blazer and s10, where each has three words for a perfecttranslation, for a claim make and model match and only an estimate modelmatch, then Y1=(1/25)*(([100%]*1+[100%]*3+[100%]*3)/3)}=9.33. The makemodel translator 128 selects the highest adjusted goodness score andproceeds to the completion steps. Otherwise, if there is a tie, then theconflicting information does not provide a translation, and the makemodel translator 128 moves to the completion steps without atranslation.

If one row has a 4-way match, and there are no subset matches, the makemodel translator 128 identifies the row as the sole 4-way row match,deletes all other rows, and move to the final steps with the row as the“proposed translation.” If there is more than one row, the make modeltranslator delete duplicates. If there are multiple rows that have twoor more 4-way matches, and the proposed translations are not identical,then the make model translator 128 deletes all other rows and performs atie break. An exemplary tie brake is illustrated below. The make modeltranslator 128 calculates the goodness value with Equation 2 for allrows, and selects the highest goodness value as the translation, andmove to the completion steps. Otherwise, if two or more 4-way hits existwith the same goodness value, then as a tiebreak the make modeltranslator 128 calculates the goodness value (e.g., add matchpercentages and divide by 2) for the estimate make and model componentonly. If the make model translator 128 determines that one estimateblock make model component that has a higher goodness value, the makemodel translator 128 select that as the match. Otherwise, if there isstill a tie between multiple rows, the make model translator 128 checksif the individual components of the “Goodness Value” for each row areall at 100%. (e.g., Y1=(1/25)*((100% +100% +100% +100%)/4) or Y2(1/25)*((100%+100%+100%+100%)/4)). If they are, the make modeltranslator 128 multiplies each component of each row by the number ofwords for a perfect translation in each component word field. Forexample, assume Y1 has (a) a make equal to Chevrolet, which has one wordfor a perfect translation, and (b) a model equal to s10, which has twowords for a perfect translation. Therefore, for a claim make and modelmatch and a estimate make and model match,Y1=(1/25)*(([100%]*1+[100%]*2+[100%]*1+[100%]*2)/4)=6.00. For example,assume Y2 has (a) a make equal to Chevrolet, which has one word for aperfect translation, and (b) a model equal to Blazer s10, which hasthree words for a perfect match. Therefore, for a claim make and modelmatch and an estimate make and model match,Y1=(1/25)*(([100%]*1+[100%]*3+[100%]*1+[100%]*3)/4)=8.00. The make modeltranslator 128 selects the highest adjusted goodness score. Otherwise,if there is a tie, then the conflicting information does not provide atranslation, and the make model translator 128 moves to the completionsteps.

If one row has a 3-way match, and there are no subset or 4-way matches,and the 3-way match is the sole 3-way row match, the make modeltranslator 128 deletes all other rows, indicates this proposedtranslation is the translation, and move to the completion steps. Ifthere is more than one row, the make model translator 128 deletesduplicates.

If one row has a 2-way match, and there are no subset or 4-way or 3-waymatches, and the 2-way match is the sole 2-way row match, the make modeltranslator 128 deletes all other rows and this proposed translation isidentified as the translation, and the make model translator 128 movesto the completion steps. If there is more than one row, the make modeltranslator 128 deletes duplicates.

If there are multiple rows that have two or more 3-way matches, and theproposed translations are not identical, the make model translatorperforms a tie break. For example, the make model translator 128calculates the goodness value using Equation 3 for all rows, and selectsthe highest goodness valve as the translation, moving to the completionsteps. Otherwise, if the matches have the same goodness value, then themake model translator 128 determines if the match in one row is “C” and“D” and the other is “A” and “B”, selecting the row with “C&D” as thetranslation, moving to the completion steps. Otherwise, if there isstill a tie between multiple rows, the make model translator 128 checksif the individual components of the goodness value for each row are allat 100% (e.g., Y1=(1/25)*((100%+100%+100%)/3) andY2=(1/25)*((100%+100%+100%)/3)). If they are all at 100%, the make modeltranslator 128 multiplies each component of each row by the number ofwords for a perfect translation in each component word field asdescribed above. The make model translator 128 selects the highestadjusted goodness score. Otherwise, if there is a tie then theconflicting information does not provide a translation, and the makemodel translator 128 moves to the completion steps.

If there are multiple rows that have one or more 3-way matches and oneto more 2-way matches, and the proposed translations are not identical,the make model translator 128 performs a tie breaker. For example, themake model translator 128 deletes all 2-way matches. If there is asingle 3-way match or multiple 3-way matches with identical proposedtranslations, the make model translator 128 select this proposedtranslation as the translation and move to the completion steps.Otherwise, the make model translator 128 calculates the goodness valueusing Equation 3 for all rows and selects the highest goodness valve asthe translation, moving to the final step. If the matches have the samegoodness value then if the match in one row is “C” and “D” and the otheris “A” and “B”, the make model translator 128 selects the row with “C&D”as the translation and moves to the completion steps. Otherwise, ifthere is still a tie between multiple rows, the make model translator128 checks if the individual components of the goodness value for eachrow are all at 100% as described above, and if they are, the make modeltranslator 128 multiplies each component of each row by the number ofwords for a perfect translation in each component word field. The makemodel translator 128 selects the highest adjusted goodness score.Otherwise, if there is a tie then the conflicting information does notprovide a translation and the make model translator 128 moves to thecompletion steps.

If there are multiple rows with 2-way matches and the proposedtranslation is not identical, the make model translator 128 performs atie break. For example, if there are “A to C” matches, the make modeltranslator 128 deletes the “A to C” matches. If, after the deletionthere is only one 2-way match left, the make model translator 128identifies the one 2-way match as the translation and moves to thecompletion steps. If there are “A to B” or “A to D” or “C to D” or “B toC” or “B to D” matches and the proposed translations are not identical,the make model translator 128 performs a tie break. For example, themake model translator 128 calculates the goodness value using Equation 4for all rows, and selects the highest goodness value as the translation,moving to the completion steps. If the matches have the same goodnessvalue, then the make model translator 128 can pick the row based on apredetermined priority (e.g., the following list arranged with thehighest priority first and continuing on to the lowest priority: a CDmatch, a CB match, an AD match, an AB match, and, lastly, a BD match).If there is a tie, then the conflicting information does not provide atranslation, and the make model translator 128 moves to the completionsteps. Otherwise, if there is still a tie between multiple rows, themake model translator 128 checks if the individual components of thegoodness value for each row are all at 100% as described above.

Lastly are the completion steps. If there are no matches (hits) there isnot a translation available with the information provided. If the makemodel translator 128 has two or more translations and the same goodnessvalue, then the make model translator 128 selects the translation withthe most column hits (word matches) as the default result. If more thanone translation exists that have the same number of column hits, then ifthere is still conflicting information that cannot be reconciled thereis not a translation. Otherwise, if a clear match winner has beenchosen, then the make model translator 128 use that row translation asthe make and model information.

In some embodiments, all the operations described above for the makemodel translator 128 are carried out linearly and in the orderdescribed. However, this is not intended to be limiting, and anycombination of the above operations can be carried out in any order.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an exemplary method 700 for translatinginsurance data of a data file. The insurance company name translator 130receives (702) data indicative of an insurance company name, the datacomprising one or more words. The insurance company name translator 130processes (704) the data through one or more processing steps togenerate processed data comprising one or more processed words. Theinsurance company name translator 130 selects (706) one or morecandidate word strings based on the one or more processed words. Theinsurance company name translator 130 associates (708) matchinginformation with each of the one or more candidate word strings. Theinsurance company name translator 130 generates (710) analysisinformation for each of the one or more candidate word strings based onthe associated matching information. The insurance company nametranslator 130 associates (712) an insurance company identifier withreceived data based on the analysis information and one or more matchingrules.

The auditing system 104 uses the insurance company name translator 130to generate an accurate translation of a word string that can be relatedto a known level of an insurance company, which in turn can be rolled upto the next higher level of the insurance companies hierarchy. Recurringpatterns can be deduced from insurance company names (e.g., by reviewing10,000 insurance company names). In some examples, the number of wordsused in the body of insurance company names is about 10 times largerthan used in parts translation (e.g., via parts translator 132). Thiscan make aliasing of an insurance company name dictionary (e.g., atemplate including all insurance company names for aliasing) difficultbecause of stepping on other aliases. Abbreviations are often used inboth the informal and formal names, so the abbreviations cannot beblindly expanded (e.g., as a preprocessing step). Insurance companiesare licensed by state by product, so, in some examples, insurancecompany names will appear fifty (50) times for one product if licensedall fifty (50) states. Therefore, differentiating between the multipleinsurance company names requires identification of the state the type ofpolicy was issued in. Since the type of product is often included in theinsurance company name, the type of product may not need to be dealtwith separately.

In some examples, the majority of the insurance company names are madeunique by just one word, or at most two words. In some examples, (e.g.,a small number of cases) the insurance company names are made unique bythe order of a sequence of common insurance words. In many of theinsurance company name word strings, the first one to three words, notincluding grammatical articles, are differentiating words that can beused to distinguish between insurance company names. In some insurancecompany name word strings, where the differentiation comes toward theend of the word string, the differentiating words are generally made upof locations (e.g., town, city, county, state, region, country). Ininsurance name word strings the order of the word sequence can beimportant, and should be maintained as the word string is processed(e.g., by the insurance company name translator 130). An analysis of thematching of the translated insurance company name word strings withother name word strings has shown that for some insurance company names,common word matches should carry less weight than uncommon word matches.To increase accuracy, the insurance company name translator 130 can beconfigured to determine that a proper name for an insurance companyexists in a translation table or dictionary if all words in the name arerepresented in the dictionary table (or data structure being used torepresent the insurance company names). The insurance company nametranslator 130 can include rules that incorporate one or more of theserecurring patterns.

Below is an example of a translation process (e.g., carried out by theinsurance company name translator 130) with reference to the steps ofmethod 700 of FIG. 7. In a preferred embodiment, the sequence of thesteps is preserved for the insurance company name translation. However,in other examples the steps can be executed in any order and in anycombination without detracting from the insurance company nametranslation. For example, translation steps can be added and removed asadditional patterns are identified within insurance company names.

With respect to step 702, the insurance company name translator 130receives data indicative of an insurance company name with one or morewords. In some examples, the insurance company name field word string isup to twelve words long.

In some embodiments, the insurance company name translator 130 generatesa dictionary table (e.g., table 804A of FIGS. 8C-8F) and a table tonumerically list insurance company names to facilitate the insurancecompany name translation. This creation process includes, for example,listing information for each company (e.g., a company code, primarycompany name, company group code, FEIN—federal employer identificationnumber, company business activity status, state of domicile, and wordsused in the subordinate word string). The insurance company nametranslator 130 analyzes the company information to make cross-referencesto data in the dictionary table, accumulate counts of true occurrencesof occurrence categories, calculate word counts for the insurancecompany names, and other comparisons of words in the insurance companynames. The insurance company name translator 130 calculates, forexample, the lowest category of word usage, the approximate usage numbertotal in the first third of the word string, the approximate usagenumber total in the second third of the word string, and the approximateusage number total in the third third of the word string, and whetherthe lowest usage word occurs in the first third, second third, or thirdthird of the word string. The insurance company name translator 130creates, in some embodiments, a table that explains the number of timeswords are used within the list of company names by word string positionand/or a table that shows the position in the word string of wordsrepresenting geographical locations. The insurance company nametranslator 130 uses this calculated information while translating a wordstring into an insurance company name.

FIG. 8A is a diagram of is an exemplary table 800 for use whentranslating hyphenated words. Table 800 includes two columns, with thefirst row including the labels for each column. Column 1 is the“Hyphenated Word” column, and includes hyphenated words. Column 2 is the“Word” column, and includes the term of column 1 for the correspondingrow without the hyphen. For hyphenated words, if the insurance companyname translator 130 determines that one or more of the hyphenated wordgroups, “xxxx-yyyy” in column 1 of table 800 appear in the insurancecompany name word string, then the insurance company name translator 130substitutes the corresponding word in column 2 of table 800 for thehyphenated word group. In some examples, if the replacement word intable 800 is actually two words separated by a coma, the insurancecompany name translator 130 creates two words strings, placing one ofthe coma separated words in each word string. Both word strings will beevaluated by the insurance company name translator 130.

FIG. 8B is a diagram of an exemplary table 802 for use when translatingstate abbreviations. Table 802 includes four columns, and the top row oftable 802 includes the column labels. Column 1 is the “state” column,and includes state names. Column 2 is the “Abbreviation” column, andincludes state abbreviations for the corresponding state of column 1.Column 3 is the “Postal Code” column, and includes the postal code forthe corresponding state of column 1. Column 4 is the “Usage” column,which displays the word usage of each row in the list of insurancecompany names.

For state abbreviations, if the insurance company name translator 130determines that the word string includes one or more of the word groupsin columns 1-3 of table 802, the insurance company name translator 130can either leave the word groups (e.g., if they appear in the “state”column) or replace the word groups with the words in column 1 of table802 (e.g., if they appear in either the “abbreviation” or “postal code”columns). If the word is replaced or matched in column 1 of table 802,the insurance company name translator 130 marks that word and locationas a state or territory of the United States. Additionally, if the firstlocation word's position number is greater than 2/3*(the total number ofwords in the string), the insurance company name translator 130 notesthe word position as “3” (e.g., in tables one through five of steps908A-908E of FIG. 9A, or in column 32, the “third of the word string thelocation words are located in” column of table 806 of FIG. 8L). In someembodiments, the word position is noted during the development of thegroup table as described above. If the replacement word in table 802 isactually two words separated by a coma, where either word may be one ortwo words, the insurance company name translator 130 creates two wordsstrings, placing one of the coma separated words in each word string.Both word strings will be evaluated by the insurance company nametranslator 130.

To add spaces, if necessary, the insurance company name translator 130can be configured to verify there is a space before and after eachpunctuation mark (e.g., a coma, hyphen, slash, and @ in the word string.For example, the insurance company name translator 130 translates “R/R”to “R_/_R”, “U-Bolt” to “U_-_Bolt”, “Ring,Retainer” to“Ring_,_Retainer”, and “spock&shield” to “spock_&_shield”, where “_” isused to indicate a space that was added in the word string by theinsurance company name translator 130.

To process abbreviations for the word “and,” the insurance company nametranslator 130 can determine if the abbreviation for the word “and”exists (e.g., “&”), and if so, replace it with the word “and.” Theinsurance company name translator 130 can be configured to removecharacters from the word string (e.g., comas, hyphens, slashes, andother grammatical non-alpha-numeric characters). The insurance companyname translator 130 can also be configured to process alpha-numeric wordgroups within the insurance company name word into two separate wordgroups within the name string (e.g., the insurance company nametranslator 130 translates “245xy” by inserting a space, to “245”_“xy”).

With respect to step 704, the insurance company name translator 130processes the data (e.g., the word string) through one or moreprocessing steps to generate processed data comprising one or moreprocessed words. For example, the insurance company name translator 130is configured to correct the spelling and usage number of words in theword string.

FIGS. 8C-8F are diagrams of a table 804A and 804B (collectively 804) foruse as a insurance company name dictionary. FIGS. 8C and 8D are oneexample of entries for table 804, and FIGS. 8E and 8F are a secondexample of entries for table 804. FIGS. 8C and 8E include the firstthree columns of table 804, and FIGS. 8D and 8F include the remainingfive columns, and the top row of each table indicates the column labels.Column 1 is the “Dictionary” column, and includes the dictionary term,which is the correctly spelled version of the word to be used in theinsurance company name. Column 2 is the “Aliases” column, and includesany aliases of the word in Column 1, if appropriate. Column 3 is the“Use in Company Listing” column, and indicates the number of times theword is used in the company listing. Columns 4 through 8 indicateattributes of the word, and are labeled, respectively, “Country”,“State”, “City/Town”, “Region/County,” and “Show if the word has beenused as a Geographical Location within insurance company name strings.”Column 8 is used in the determination of the translation of theinsurance company name and enables the translator to determine theimpact of location words.

The insurance company name translator 130 determines if each word in theword string is spelled correctly and is in the name dictionary which iscolumn 1. Or if the insurance company name translator 130 determinesthere is an alias match column 2, the insurance company name translator130 replaces the alias with the spelling in column 1.

The insurance company name translator 130, for each word matched incolumn 1 should record the corresponding usage number in column 3 (e.g.,the corresponding usage number is calculated in that row by looking theword up in a numerical listing of companies, not shown), in addition torecording that the word is spelled correctly. For the remaining wordsthat are not matched in columns 1 or 2, the insurance company nametranslator 130 can log them as not in the dictionary for reference, ifnecessary.

The insurance company name translator 130 can include a minimum criteriato continue translation. If the insurance company name translator 130identifies words that do not have a match in column 3 then the insurancecompany name translator 130 checks whether there is a match in thecolumn 2. The insurance company name translator 130 selects the firstmatches found, chooses the corresponding correct spelling in column 2and again records the usage number corresponding to the match in column3 (e.g., the corresponding usage number is calculated in that row bylooking the word up in a numerical listing of companies, not shown).

The insurance company name translator 130 follows the sequence describedbelow. The sequence describes worst case, so the insurance company nametranslator 130 continues on anything better than worst case. If theinsurance company name translator 130 determines the name word string isone word long, then if the word has been matched in column 1 or 2, theinsurance company name translator 130 continues to FIG. 8S and theassociated description, calculating the word usage, and recording thenumber in column 3. Otherwise, if not, the insurance company nametranslator 130 stops the translation process, and places the name wordstring in the un-translated log string.

If the insurance company name translator 130 determines the name wordstring is two words long, then if the insurance company name translator130 matched the first word in column 1 or 2 and has not matched thesecond word, the insurance company name translator 130 continue to FIG.8S and the associated description unless the insurance company nametranslator 130 determines the first word has a usage in column 3 equalto or greater than 100, or if the first word translated as “THE.” Ifeither of these cases exist, insurance company name translator 130 stopstranslation and places the name word string in the un-translated logstring. If the name word string is two words long and if the insurancecompany name translator 130 matched the second word in column 1 or 2 andhas not matched the first word, the insurance company name translator130 continues to FIG. 8S and the associated description unless thesecond word has a usage in column 3 equal to or greater than forty (40).If the usage number of the second word is greater than forty (40), theinsurance company name translator 130 stops the translation, and placesthe name word string in the un-translated log string.

If the insurance company name translator 130 determines the name wordstring is three words long, then if the insurance company nametranslator 130 matched the first word of the three in column 1 or 2 andthe insurance company name translator 130 has not matched either thesecond or third words, the insurance company name translator 130continues to FIG. 8S and the associated description unless the insurancecompany name translator 130 determines the first word has a usage incolumn 3 equal to or greater than one hundred (100), or the first wordtranslated as “THE.” If either of these cases exists, the insurancecompany name translator 130 stops the translation, and places the nameword string in the un-translated log string. If the name word string isthree words long and if the insurance company name translator 130 hasmatched the second word in column 1 or 2 and the insurance company nametranslator 130 has not matched either the first and third words, theinsurance company name translator 130 continues to FIG. 8S and theassociated description unless the insurance company name translator 130determines the second word has a usage in column 3 equal to or greaterthan forty (40). If the insurance company name translator 130 determinesthe second word's usage number is greater than forty (40), the insurancecompany name translator 130 stops translating, and places the name wordstring in the un-translated log string. If the name word string is threewords long and if the insurance company name translator 130 has matchedthe third word in column 1 or 2 and the insurance company nametranslator 130 has not matched either the first or second words, theinsurance company name translator 130 stops the translation and placesthe name word string in the un-translated log string unless the thirdword has a usage in column 3 less than ten (10). If the third word'susage number is less than ten (10), the insurance company nametranslator 130 continues to FIG. 8S and the associated description.

If the insurance company name translator 130 determines the name wordstring is greater than three words (e.g., four to eleven words long), ifthe insurance company name translator 130 determines the first threewords in the string do not meet the minimum criteria of the three wordstep above, the insurance company name translator 130 stops thetranslation, and places the name word string in the un-translated logstring and stop translation. Otherwise, the insurance company nametranslator 130 continues to FIG. 8S and the associated description. Ifthe insurance company name translator 130 determines that there are nomatches in either column 1 or 2, then the insurance company nametranslator 130 places the one or more word in the unmatched error log,along with a copy of the entire name word string, and stops thetranslation process.

After completing the sequence above, the insurance company nametranslator 130 should have generated a correctly spelled word string(e.g., a word string of 1 to 12 words) with the word usage attached toeach word, and location words designated by a logical “YES.” FIG. 8S isan exemplary diagram 850 of one or more processed words, words WORD-1through WORD-12, collectively called “words”, each word being associatedwith a USAGE # and a Y/N LOCAL. If there are duplicate words possiblebecause of the abbreviations, then there will be two effective correctlyspelled word strings where one word in both strings will be different.FIG. 8T is an exemplary diagram of two word strings 860, 870 ofprocessed words. Word string 860 includes WORD-1, WORD-2A to represent afirst duplicate word, and WORD-3 through WORD-12, each word beingassociated with a USAGE # and a Y/N LOCAL. Word string 870 includesWORD-1, WORD-2B to represent a second duplicate word, and WORD-3 throughWORD-12, each word being associated with a USAGE # and a Y/N LOCAL.While FIGS. 8S and 8T depict twelve words, this is for illustrativepurposes only, and it should be understood that the processed wordstring can include any number of words (e.g., one word, two words,etc.).

Otherwise, if the insurance company name translator 130 did not generatea correctly spelled word string, then the translation would be stoppedand the insurance company name translator 130 would have generated anerror log including, for example, the complete un-translated name wordstring and/or the word or words that would not translate.

With respect to step 706, the insurance company name translator 130selects one or more candidate word strings based on the one or moreprocessed words (e.g., FIGS. 10A-10B). Name word strings often have twopatterns: those with a definitive word, and those with a definitivelocal called out. For the definitive word pattern, many word stringshave the definitive word for the name word string located within thefirst three words of the string. For example, on a surveyed sample ofinsurance company name word strings, 93.18% of words used once in a namestring occur in the first three word positions, 93.89% of words usedtwice in name strings occur in the first three positions, 93.78% ofwords used three times in name strings occur in the first threepositions, 94.89% of words used four times in name strings occur in thefirst three positions, and 93.55% of words used five to ten times inname strings occur in the first three positions. This pattern mayaccount for, for example, approximately 85% of insurance company names.Another pattern is the pattern where a local is specified in the lastthird of the world string (e.g., “Mutual Insurance Company of Montana”).This pattern may account for, for example, approximately 10 to 12% ofinsurance company names. Additionally, common words can be used totranslate the insurance company field, which can depend on the sequenceto differentiate the name (e.g., “Mutual Fire and Marine InsuranceCompany”).

FIG. 9A is a flow chart of an exemplary method 900 for selectingcandidate insurance company name word strings. The insurance companyname translator 130 collects additional information and identifiesoptions. In steps 902A-902F, the insurance company name translator 130determines how many words are in the name word string (or word strings,depending on the previous translation steps). The insurance companystories (904) this information with the word string. In steps 906A-906F,the insurance company name translator 130 determines the lowest wordusage word in the word string(s). If there is more than one with thesame usage number, the insurance company name translator 130 uses thefirst word in the string with that number (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, orgreater than 5).

FIGS. 8G-8L and 8M-8R are diagrams of an exemplary table 806 use forindexing, where the top row includes the column descriptions. Column 1is the “Key” column, column 2 is the “Parent Company Name” column, andcolumn 3 is the “Parent Index” column. Columns 4 through 32 includeinformation regarding the children of the parent. Columns 4 through 10are the “Company Code” column, the “Name In One String” column, the“Parent Index” column, the “Company Number” column, the “FEIN” column,the “Company Status” column, and the “State of Domicile” column. Columns11 through 22 are the “First Position” column, the “Second Position”column, the “Third Position” column, the “Fourth Position” column, the“Fifth Position” column, the “Sixth Position” column, the “SeventhPosition” column, the “Eighth Position” column, the “Ninth Position”column, the “Tenth Position” column, the “Eleventh Position” column, andthe “Twelfth Position” column. Columns 23 through 32 are the “WordCount” column, the “Final Review of Lowest Categories In Word String”(Final Review) column, the “One Third Cell Count” (1/3) column, the“Approximate First Third Category Weighting” (Appx. First Third Weight)column, the “Approximate Second Third Category Weighting” (Appx. SecondThird Weight) column, the “Approximate Third Third Category Weighting”(Appx. Third Third Weight) column, the “First Third the Lowest CategoryNumber Appears” column, the “First Position of Location Word In String”column, the “NUMBER OF LOCATION WORDS PER WORD STRING” column, and the“THE 1/3 OF THE WORD STRING THE LOCATION WORD(S) ARE LOCATED” column.

FIGS. 8M-8R are diagrams of an exemplary table 808 use for indexing.Table 808 includes the same columns as table 806, but provides a secondexemplary data set different from the data set of table 806. Column 1 isthe “Key” column, column 2 is the “Parent Company Name” column, andcolumn 3 is the “Parent Index” column. Columns 4 through 32 includeinformation regarding the children of the parent. Columns 4 through 10are the “Company Code” column, the “Name In One String” column, the“Parent Index” column, the “Company Number” column, the “FEIN” column,the “Company Status” column, and the “State of Domicile” column. Columns11 through 22 are the “First Position” column, the “Second Position”column, the “Third Position” column, the “Fourth Position” column, the“Fifth Position” column, the “Sixth Position” column, the “SeventhPosition” column, the “Eighth Position” column, the “Ninth Position”column, the “Tenth Position” column, the “Eleventh Position” column, andthe “Twelfth Position” column. Columns 23 through 32 are the “WordCount” column, the “Final Review of Lowest Categories In Word String”(Final Review) column, the “One Third Cell Count” (1/3) column, the“Approximate First Third Category Weighting” (Appx. First Third Weight)column, the “Approximate Second Third Category Weighting” (Appx. SecondThird Weight) column, the “Approximate Third Third Category Weighting”(Appx. Third Third Weight) column, the “First Third the Lowest CategoryNumber Appears” column, the “First Position of Location Word In String”column, the “NUMBER OF LOCATION WORDS PER WORD STRING” column, and the“THE 1/3 OF THE WORD STRING THE LOCATION WORD(S) ARE LOCATED” column.

In steps 908A-908E, the insurance company name translator 130 searchesthe appropriate table for the word match and the possible name stringsthat might be the correct insurance company name. Table one for step908A is an instance of table with similar information as that of table808 of FIGS. 8M-8R. Table one includes, for example, only word stringswith one unique word, and information about each child includes thecompany code, name, parent index, company number, fein, company status,state of domicile, first position, second position, third position,fourth position, fifth position, sixth position, seventh position,eighth position, ninth position, tenth position, eleventh position,twelfth position, word count, final review of lowest categories in wordstring, one third cell count, approximate first third categoryweighting, approximate second third category weighting, approximatethird third category weighting, first third the lowest category numberappears, first position of location word in word string, number oflocation words per word string, and the one third of the word string thelocation word(s) are located. Table two through table five include, forexample, word strings with two unique words, word strings with threeunique words, word strings with four unique words, and word strings withfive unique words, respectively.

If there is more than one word with a word usage (e.g., if there is morethan one word in the name string), the insurance company name translator130 selects the first word. If two name word strings have been created,the insurance company name translator 130 keeps the return word stringsets separate, since the analysis will be done separately and thencompared. This is done for usage numbers between one and five, going totables corresponding to the usage number and returning the rows thatmatch that name string word (e.g., table one will return (910A) one row,since this is a direct match and is therefore the translation, table twowill return (910B) two rows, table three will return (910C) three rows,table four will return (910D) four rows, and table five will return(910E) five rows).

For greater than the category of five usage words, if the insurancecompany name translator 130 uses an index table (e.g., table 806 ofFIGS. 8G-8L or table 808 of FIGS. 8M-8R), searching for a match incolumn 1, returning (910F) as many rows as there are matches in column1. If the insurance company name translator 130 identifies a group ofidentical rows, the insurance company name translator 130 returns thefirst row.

If the insurance company name translator 130 determines there are nomatches in column 1 of an index table (e.g., table 806 of FIGS. 8G-8L ortable 808 of FIGS. 8M-8R), then the insurance company name translator130 searches for the low usage word in the body of an index table (e.g.,table 806 of FIGS. 8G-8L or table 808 of FIGS. 8M-8R, columns 12 throughcolumns 23), returning all rows matched for analysis. The insurancecompany name translator 130 can also log an error in the index listsince the body of an index table (e.g., table 806 of FIGS. 8G-8L ortable 808 of FIGS. 8M-8R) had to be used for this word.

With respect to step 708, the insurance company name translator 130associates matching information with each of the one or more candidateword strings. At this point the insurance company name translator 130has calculated the number of words in the name string; the sequence ofthe words in the name string; if one of the words is a city, state,country, or region, and the number of rows (e.g., possible name strings)that may be the correct insurance company name. The returned rows (e.g.,from steps 910B through 910F) contains word string words, a word stringcount, an indication of whether a location word exists, an indication ofthe location words position, an indication of what third of the wordstring the location word is in, and word usage for each word in thestring. This information is saved along with the original name wordstring. If, for example, the insurance company name translator 130performed a dual search, there are two sets of information.

With respect to step 710, the insurance company name translator 130generates analysis information for each of the one or more candidateword strings based on the associated matching information. FIG. 9B is aflow chart of an exemplary method 950 for generating analysisinformation for one or more word strings. The insurance company nametranslator 130 receives (912) the returned rows (e.g., from one of steps910B through 910F) from the search. The information returned with eachrow includes, for example, the word string and information indicative ofthe word count, the existence of the location name, the position of thelocation name, which third of the string (e.g., the first third, secondthird, or last third of the word string) the location name is positionedin, and the word usage for each word in the string. The insurancecompany name translator 130 checks the information indicative of theexistence of the location name to determine (914) whether there is alocation name in the word string. If there is a location name in theword string, the insurance company name translator 130 determines (916)whether the location name is in the last third of the word string (e.g.,by checking the information indicative of which third of the string thelocation name is positioned in). If the location name is in the lastthird of the word string, the insurance company name translator 130processes (918) the string, assuming the location name is not anintegral part of the insurance company name. The insurance company nametranslator 130 determines (920) whether the target word string has alocation word. If the target word string has a location word, theinsurance company name translator 130 determines (922) whether thelocation word in the target word string is in the last third of thetarget word string. If the location word is not in the last third, thenthe insurance company name translator 130 ignores (924) the last thirdof the candidate word string when performing the calculations.

If the insurance company name translator 130 determines (916) thelocation name is not in the last third of the word string, the insurancecompany name translator 130 processes (926) the word string assuming thelocation name is an integral part of the insurance company name. Theinsurance company name translator 130 calculates (928) information aboutthe target and one or more candidate word strings, storing theinformation with each potential candidate word string in an analysisoutput table. The information includes a difference in total words, anumber of word matches, a weighted word match count, a weighted wordcount, a weighted match difference, a sequence number count, and anaverage sequence number count.

The insurance company name translator 130 calculates the “difference intotal,” or the difference in the number of words in the original string(e.g., string “A”) and each string that was returned (e.g., strings “B”,“C”, etc., returned through steps 910B through 910F). The difference iscalculated, for example, as the word count of string “A” subtracted fromthe word count of string “B”. The insurance company name translator 130stores these results in the analysis output table.

The insurance company name translator 130 determines the number of wordmatches between the original word name string “A” and the word namestrings returned (“B”, “C”, etc.). The insurance company name translator130 can store these results in the analysis output table.

The insurance company name translator 130 calculates a “weighted wordmatch count” or (“weighted match count”). The weighted word match countis calculated by using the word usage number. Each match equals one andis multiplied by the usage multiplier as shown below, these products areall summed and the results are stored in the analysis output table. Themultipliers are shown below for each match case:

-   word usage number 1 thru 10 equals 100% or 1×100%=1;-   word usage 11 thru 30 equals 98% or 1×98%=0.98;-   word usage 31 to 49 equals 96% or 1×96%=0.96;-   word usage 50 to 100 equals 90% or 1×90%=0.90;-   word usage 101 to 400 equals 80% or 1×80%=0.80; and-   word usage 401 to 5000 equals 50% or 1×50%=0.50.

The insurance company name translator 130 calculates the “weighted wordcount” for the original name string and each name string returned. Theinsurance company name translator 130 calculates the weighted word countby using the word usage number. Each word equals one and is multipliedby the usage multiplier shown below. The insurance company nametranslator 130 sums these products for each name string, and the resultsare stored in the analysis output table. Exemplary multipliers are shownbelow for each word usage:

-   word usage number 1 thru 10 equals 100% or 1×100%=1;-   word usage 11 thru 30 equals 98% or 1×98%=0.98;-   word usage 31 to 49 equals 96% or 1×96%=0.96;-   word usage 50 to 100 equals 90% or 1×90%=0.90;-   word usage 101 to 400 equals 80% or 1×80%=0.80; and-   word usage 401 to 5000 equals 50% or 1×50%=0.50.

The insurance company name translator 130 calculate the “weighted matchdifference” by subtracting the “weighted word count” from the “weightedword match count.” The results are stored in the analysis output table.

The insurance company name translator 130 calculates the “sequencenumber count” of the lowest usage match. The insurance company nametranslator 130 calculates the sequence number count by computing thedifference in relative sequence of the “lowest usage word” (e.g., theword used the least in the word string) in the original name word stringfrom each of the returned word strings words that match. For example, ifthe lowest usage word in the original name string is “aetna”, it was inthe second position in the sequence of the original string, and thereturned name string where it matched was in the first position, thenthe count would be “−1.” If, for example, it had been in the thirdposition then it would be “1,” in the fifth position then it would be“3”, etc. The results are stored in the analysis output table.

The insurance company name translator 130 calculates the “averageabsolute sequence number count” for all matches. The insurance companyname translator 130 calculates the average absolute sequence numbercount as the difference in relative sequence of the word in the originalname word string from each of the returned word strings words thatmatch. For example, if the word in the original name string was in thesecond position in the sequence of the original string, and the returnedname string where it matched was in the first position, then the countwould be “1,” if it had been in the third position it would be “1,” inthe fifth position it would be “3”, etc. Because it is the average, thenthere are no ± signs. Usually, for each match the insurance company nametranslator 130 will calculate a number between 0 and 10. The insurancecompany name translator 130 sums the matches, dividing by the number ofmatches to calculate the average sequence number count. The results arestored in the analysis output table.

With respect to step 712, the insurance company name translator 130associates an insurance company identifier with received data based onthe analysis information and one or more matching rules. The analysisoutput table includes, for each candidate word string based on theoriginal word string, a difference in total words, a number of wordmatches, a weighted word match count, a weighted word count, a weightedmatch difference, a sequence number count, and an average sequencenumber count. In some examples, the evaluation of the analysis outputtable is based on word usage.

FIG. 10A shows an exemplary graph 1000 for word position versus wordusage count. The positions 1002 (numbers 1 through 12) along the tophorizontal axis of graph 1000 indicate the position of a word in astring (e.g., 1 indicates the word is at the first position in the wordstring), and the ranges 1004A and 1004B (collectively ranges 1004)indicate categories of occurrences of words in the total number ofinsurance company names (e.g., category 1-10 means a specific wordoccurred 1-10 times in all the insurance names in the auditing system104, so 1-10 is therefore a near unique word occurrence). For example,the entry in 1002 and 1004A for 1-10 occurrences at a word position 1 is3875, which means that unique words occurred 3875 times in the firstposition of the word string of the insurance company name. This tablerelates occurrence categories to word string positions. The numbers incorresponding entries for positions 1002 and 1004A are numerical totals.The numbers in the corresponding entries for positions 1002 and 1004Bare percentages. Advantageously, since unique words can facilitatetranslation of insurance company names, the graph 1000 shows, for someexamples, the insurance company name translator 130 can use the firstwords in the string for translation, and the sequence of words in thestring should be maintained during translation.

In some examples, the majority of the words fall into 4-5 word positionsand the majority of the “differentiating” words fall into the first 2-3word positions. What comprises a common word usage is based on positions3 and 4, and can also be based on positions 2 and 5. Common words mostlymake up positions 6 thru 11, as a percentage of totals, even though theword volume tails off as the position increases.

The insurance company name translator 130 uses rules to determine thebest possible match. An exemplary rule set is described below, which isintended to be illustrative only and not limiting. The insurance companyname translator 130 determines if the word usage number was one andthere is a signal row match out of table 808. If this is the case, theinsurance company name translator 130 concludes with that row as thetranslation. The insurance company name translator 130 indicates a table808 translation in the analysis log next to the original name string,the translated name string, and the parent index number. Otherwise, theinsurance company name translator 130 determines if the original namestring is one word in length and the word usage number on that word isbelow 49. If so, the insurance company name translator 130 moves forwardin the translation (e.g., Aetna has a usage of 33).

The insurance company name translator 130 determines if one row isreturned with a match, and if so then the insurance company nametranslator 130 determines the row is the translation. The insurancecompany name translator 130 indicates a table 808 translation in theanalysis log next to the original name string, the translated namestring, and the parent index number. Otherwise, if the insurance companyname translator 130 determines multiple rows are returned with matches,the insurance company name translator 130 tests the analysis outputtable. The test involves the insurance company name translator 130looking at five values (i.e., the absolute value of the accountdifference, the absolute value of the number of matches, the number ofwords in the target word string, the absolute value of the weightedmatch difference, and the absolute value of the average sequence matchcount) all of which are sought to be minimized for the best match. Forexample, the insurance company name translator 130 can compute theabsolute value of the account difference, plus the absolute value of thenumber of matches, minus the number of words in the target word string,plus the absolute value of the weighted match difference, plus theabsolute value of the sequence count number, plus the absolute value ofthe average sequence match count. The lowest number computed for all therows is the translation.

For example, FIG. 10B shows an exemplary string table 1020 and anexemplary analysis output table, tables 1022A and 1022B, collectivelythe analysis output table 1022. The first word string in the stringtable 1020, row 1024A, is the target word string, which is “AXISCOMPANY.” The remaining four word strings, rows 1024B-1024D, are thecandidate word strings identified through the insurance company nametranslator 130 using one or more of the steps described above (e.g.,using the analysis calculations described above with reference to FIGS.7-9B). The candidate word strings are “AXIS INSURANCE COMPANY”, “AXISREINSURANCE COMPANY”, “AXIS SPECIALTY INSURANCE COMPANY”, and “AXISSURPLUS INSURANCE COMPANY.” The calculations (e.g., as described withrespect to step 710 of FIG. 7) for each row of the string table 1020 areshown in the two analysis output table extensions 1022A, 1022B. Each rowin the analysis output tables 1022 correspond to a row in the stringtable 1020 (e.g., row 1024A of string table 1020 corresponds to row1026A of table 1022A and row 1028A of table 1022B, and so on). Thecolumn titled “calculation” in table 1022B shows the output of theabsolute value of the account difference, plus the absolute value of thenumber of matches minus the number of words in the target word string,plus the absolute value of the weighted match difference, plus theabsolute value of the sequence count number, plus the absolute value ofthe average sequence match count. The lowest number output for all therows is the translation, which is row 1028B. Thus, “AXIS COMPANY” istranslated to “AXIS INSURANCE COMPANY.”

FIG. 10C shows another exemplary string table 1040 and an exemplaryanalysis output table, tables 1042A and 1042B, collectively the analysisoutput table 1042. The first word string in the string table 1040, row1044A, is the target word string, and the remaining four word strings,rows 1044B-1044E, are the candidate word strings identified through theinsurance company name translator 130 using one or more of the stepsdescribed above. The calculations for each row of the string table 1040are shown in the two analysis output table extensions 1042A, 1042B. Eachrow in the analysis output tables 1042 correspond to a row in the stringtable 1040 (e.g., row 1044A of string table 1040 corresponds to row1046A of table 1042A and row 1048A of table 1042B, and so on). Thelowest number output for all the rows is the translation, which is row1048D. Thus, “CENTURION LIFE INSURANCE” is translated to “CENTURION LIFEINSURANCE COMPANY.”

FIG. 10D shows another exemplary string table 1060 and an exemplaryanalysis output table, tables 1062A and 1062B, collectively the analysisoutput table 1062. The first word string in the string table 1060, row1064A, is the target word string, and the remaining four word strings,rows 1064B-1064E, are the candidate word strings identified through theinsurance company name translator 130 using one or more of the stepsdescribed above. Notably, the fourth candidate word string, column 1064Eof string table 1060, has a location word in the last third of the wordstring (i.e., “OHIO”), and therefore the last third of the word stringis effectively truncated for the calculation (e.g., as described abovewith reference to FIG. 9B). The calculations for each row of the stringtable 1060 are shown in the two analysis output table extensions 1062A,1062B. Each row in the analysis output tables 1062 correspond to a rowin the string table 1060 (e.g., row 1064A of string table 1060corresponds to row 1066A of table 1062A and row 1068A of table 1062B,and so on). The lowest number output for all the rows is thetranslation, which is row 1068C. Thus, “CRUM FORSTER INSURANCE” istranslated to “CRUM AND FORSTER INSURANCE COMPANY.”

Parts translator 132 includes first parts translator 134A and secondparts translator 134B, which the auditing system 104 uses to translatepart line items. In some embodiments, parts translator 132 includes onlyone translator. In some examples, one or both of the first partstranslator 134A and the second parts translator 134B are used totranslate the word strings. In some embodiments, the first partstranslator 134A and the second parts translator 134B are combined intoone translator. Database 136 stores information needed by partstranslator 132. For example, database 136 can store one or more datatables for the translation process (see, e.g., Tables 1-17), one or morerules used by the parts translator 132, and/or one or more rulesassociated with each of the client computers 102.

As discussed above, the audit report 140 generated by the output unit138 can include an audit report of parts (a “parts audit report”), anaudit of operations (an “operations audit report”), complianceinformation, a pay/no pay recommendation, a settlement process, or anestimate based on both the parts audit report and the operations auditreport (a “multi-point estimate audit”). The auditing system 104 can usethe part translator 132 to generate identifiers (e.g., part identifiersfor part items) for use in generating audit reports.

The auditable items (e.g., part are made up of both alphanumeric andnon-alphanumeric characters. The auditable items can be, for example,line items for an insurance demand file. For example, a line item caninclude characters indicative of a line item number, an entry number, alabor type, an operation, a line item description, a part type or partnumber, a dollar amount, a labor unit, and/or the like. Examples of lineitem descriptions are “R FRT OTR BELT MOULDING”, “FRT BUMPER ASSY”,“DOOR W/SIDE MIRROR SHELL REPAIR 3 HOURS”, “RADIO-CD PLAYER INCL 1 FRT &R SPEAKER PLUG CONNECTION”, “250 HP ENGINE-SPORT SUSPENSION WITH RALLYPACKAGE”, and/or the like. These examples are not included to belimiting or conclusive, but are provided for illustrative, exemplarypurposes only.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary method 1150 for auditing a data file(e.g., data file 120). The auditing system 104 selects (1152) anauditable item (e.g., auditable item 121A from the auditable items 121)in the data file 120. The auditable item is made up of a word string ofone or more words. The auditing system 104 (e.g., via parts translator132) translates (1154) the word string using one or more translationsteps into a translated item description. The one or more translationsteps are described in further detail below (see, e.g., FIGS. 12A-15B).The auditing system 104 compares (1156) the translated item descriptionto a plurality of terms to generate matching information. The auditingsystem 104 associates (1158) each translated item description with anitem identifier based on the matching information. If there areadditional auditable items remaining (1160) in the data file 120, theauditing system 104 continues to translate (steps 1152-1158) eachauditable item.

The auditing system 104 accepts or rejects (1162) each auditable itembased on the item identifier and one or more rules associated with thedata file. For example, if the auditing system 104 determines the itemidentifier for an auditable item is rejected based on the one or morerules associated with the data file, the auditing system 104 acceptsauditable item. If the auditing system 104 determines the itemidentifier is accepted based on the one or more rules, the auditingsystem 104 accepts the auditable item. If the word string isunsuccessfully translated into a word string (e.g., at step 1154), theauditing system 104 can log the word string as an unsuccessfultranslation. If the auditing system 104 unsuccessfully associates thetranslated item description with a single item identifier, the auditingsystem 104 can associate the translated item description with aplurality of item identifiers. For example, the auditing system 104 canassociate the translated item description with the five closest itemidentifiers. Advantageously, when there are close associations, a usercan be presented with the closest matches and select the best match forthe auditable item.

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary method 200 for initial processing of aword string during translation. Once the auditing system 104 selects anauditable item, the auditing system 104 preprocesses (1202) the wordstring associated with the auditable item. The auditing system 104determines (1204) whether or not the word string contains one or morespecific words. If the word string contains one or more specific words,the auditing system removes (1206) the standard terms. The auditingsystem determines (1208) whether the word string contains one or morepredetermined terms. If the auditing system contains one or morepredetermined terms, the auditing system processes (1210) the wordstring according to one or more rules associated with the predeterminedterms. The auditing system determines (1212) whether the word stringcontains one or more abbreviations. If the auditing system contains oneor more abbreviations, the auditing system processes (1214) the wordstring according to one or more rules associated with the abbreviations.The auditing system determines (1216) whether the word string containsheader information. If the auditing system contains header information,the auditing system processes (1218) the word string according to one ormore rules associated with the header information. The auditing systemdetermines (1220) whether the word string contains one or more ambiguousterms. If the auditing system contains one or more ambiguous terms, theauditing system processes (1222) the word string according to one ormore rules associated with the one or more ambiguous terms.

The auditing system 104 preprocesses (1202) the word string associatedwith the auditable item. Preprocessing includes, for example, removingone or more orientation words from the word string, removing one or moreunnecessary words from the word string, adding a space before one ormore punctuation marks in the word string, and other types ofpreprocessing.

An exemplary listing of orientation words includes FR, FRONT, FRT, FT,INNER, INR, L, LEFT, LH, LOWER, LT, LWR, OTR, OUTER, R, REAR, RH, RHT,RIGHT, RT, UPPER, and UPR. The auditing system 104 can include one ormore rules (e.g., stored in DB 136) to remove unneeded words from theword string based on identifying one or more orientation words. Thetruncated word string (i.e., the word string with the identified wordsremoved) is processed by additional steps, if any.

The auditing system 104 can test the word string for various type ofpunctuation characters to determine whether all characters are precededby a space and followed by a space. The auditing system 104 can includeone or more rules to add spaces as needed to prepare the word string forfurther processing. For example, “SIDE MIRROR (WITH ELECTRICAL CONTROL)”can be translated into “SIDE MIRROR ( WITH ELECTRICAL CONTROL ).”

The auditing system 104 determines (1204) whether or not the word stringcontains one or more specific words. If the word string contains one ormore specific words, the auditing system removes (1206) the standardterms. Standard terms are terms that have no real impact on the partbeing described. An exemplary list of standard terms includes “2 DOOR”,“3 DOOR”, “4 DOOR”, “2 CYLINDER”, “4 CYLINDER”, “6 CYLINDER”, “8CYLINDER”, “2 WHEEL DRIVE”, and “REPLACE”. The auditing system 104 caninclude one or more rules to remove standard terms and to truncate theword string for further processing.

In some examples, the standard terms can include the words such as“repair” and/or “finishing” on certain body parts, such as door shellsand/or panels, and/or the like. The auditing system 104 include have oneor more rules to look for these types of word phrases and to remove anyunnecessary words. For example “DOOR W/SIDE MIRROR SHELL REPAIR 3 HOURS”is translated into “DOOR W/SIDE MIRROR.”

In some examples, the standard terms can include the term “cross-member”and various equivalents (e.g., “x-mbr”). The auditing system 104 caninclude one or more rules to remove the term(s). The standard terms caninclude other terms that do not add value to the identification of thepart. For example, “RADIO—CD PLAYER INCL 8 FRT & R SPEAKER PLUGCONNECTION” is translated into “RADIO—CD PLAYER.”

The auditing system determines (1208) whether the word string containsone or more predetermined terms. If the auditing system contains one ormore predetermined terms, the auditing system processes (1210) the wordstring according to one or more rules associated with the predeterminedterms. The predetermined terms can include, for example, “heads updisplay”, “sport suspension”, “standard suspension”, “automatic ormanual transmission”, “manual” and/or “steering” followed by a wordstarting with “co”, “combination”, and/or other terms and abbreviations(e.g., “std sus” for “standard suspension”) of such terms. For example,“250 HP ENGINE—SPORT SUSPENSION WITH RALLY PACKAGE” is translated to“250 HP ENGINE”, “250 HP ENGINE—STD SUS WITH MAN TRANS” is translated to“250 HP ENGINE”, “FLOOR MOUNTED SHIFTER MAN TRANS STD RATIO” istranslated to “FLOOR MOUNTED SHIFTER”, “SHIFT LEVER MANUAL STEERINGCOLUMN” is translated to “SHIFT LEVER”, and “FRT R COMBINATION LAMP” istranslated to “FRONT RIGHT COMBINATION LAMP.”

In some examples, the standard terms can be used to identify groupingsof terms. FIG. 12B shows an exemplary table 1230 for groupings. Thefirst column labeled “Designator” includes the designator words. Thesecond through sixth columns, labeled “Term 1”, “Term 2”, “Term 3”,“Term 4”, “Term 5”, respectively, include additional terms which can beassociated with the designator. The seventh column labeled “Orient”includes orientation words associated with the designator word in the“Designator” column. The eighth column labeled “Desc” containsdescriptor words, and the ninth column labeled “Name” contains itemnames. The auditing system 104 can include one or more rules to processa word string based on table 1230. For example, the auditing system 104can search for a designator word. If a designator word is found, theword string can be examined and replaced with the correct orientationword from the “Orientation” column and the correct descriptor and itemnames from the “Desc” and “Name” columns.

In some examples, the standard terms can include any abbreviations for“without” and “with <some word>.” The auditing system 104 can includerules to remove the abbreviations. The rules can be further configuredto remove the part of the word string following those abbreviations. Forexample, “L FRT DOOR W/ELECTRIC LOCK” is translated to “L FRT DOOR.”

In some examples, the standard terms can include metric indicators. Themetric indicators can be, for example, alphanumeric, alpha, andnumerical characters related to metrics. FIG. 12C shows an exemplarytable 1232 for translating metric words. The first column labeled“Metric Words” lists various metric alias words. The second columnlabeled “Correct Word” lists the actual word the associated word in the“Metric Words” column. The third column labeled “Text/Numeric Words”lists various textual and numeric metric words. The fourth columnlabeled “Correct Word” lists the actual word associated with the word inthe “Text/Numeric Words” column. For example, the numeric word “1/4”corresponds to the correct word “one quarter.” The auditing system 104can include one or more rules for dealing with metrics. For example, theauditing rules may remove the metrics. Some auditing rules may keepmetric indicators, such as “1^(st)”, “2^(nd)”, and “3^(rd)”, forexample. As an illustrative example, “4.2L ENGINE” is translated to“ENGINE”, and “ENGINE FOR A 240ZX MODEL” is translated to “ENGINE FOR AMODEL.” The rules can be configured to delete the metric words from theword string and concatenate the remaining word string together forfurther processing.

In some examples, the standard terms can include computer generatedformats. For example, computer generated formats can include codenotations such as a part description followed by a dash, multiplespaces, and/or a 2 digit code number. For example, “R FRT FENDER—24” istranslated to “R FRT FENDER.” The auditing system 104 can include rulesto identify computer generated formats and remove the superfluouscomputer generated custom codes.

In some examples, the standard terms can include non-alphanumericcharacters. The auditing system 104 can include rules to determine ifnon-alpha-numeric characters are in the word string and to remove thecharacters. The rules can be configured to keep certain non-alphanumericcharacters in the word string. For example, the rules can be configuredto keep comas in the word string. The rules can also be configured to,upon determining parentheses exist in the word string, to remove alltext and characters within the parentheses. The rules can also beconfigured to, upon determining quotes exist in the word string, to alsoremove all text within the quote. For example, “TINTED WINDSHIELD(EMBEDDED ANTENNA)” is translated to “TINTED WINDSHIELD.”

In some examples, the standard terms can include single letters. For anitem name, there are often finite single letter word string combinationsthat are allowable. The auditing system 104 can include rules todetermine if the individual letter(s) are allowable, and if not they canbe removed from the word string. In some examples, the standard termscan include the term “TYPE.” The auditing system 104 can include a ruleto determine if the word string contains the word “TYPE.” The rules canbe further configured to remove the word “TYPE” and all subsequentwords.

The auditing system determines (1212) whether the word string containsone or more abbreviations. If the auditing system contains one or moreabbreviations, the auditing system processes (1214) the word stringaccording to one or more rules associated with the abbreviations. FIG.12D is a diagram of an exemplary table 1234 for translatingabbreviations. The first column of table 1234, labeled “To BeConverted,” includes abbreviations which may exist in a word string. Thesecond column, labeled “Convert To” is the value the correspondingabbreviation from column one is converted to by, for example, one ormore rules in the auditing system 104. For example, if the abbreviation“W/S” is located in a word string, the abbreviation is translated to“WINDSHIELD,” “4WD” is translated to “FOUR WHEEL DRIVE,” and so on. Theabbreviations can include both text and non-text characters. Anexemplary rule can be configured to determine if there are anytext/non-text abbreviation matches in the first column. For each matchin the “To Be Converted” column, the abbreviation is replaced by thecorresponding text in the “Convert To” column.

The abbreviations can include dual meaning abbreviations. For example,“R” can either be “Right” or “Rear.” FIG. 12E is a diagram of anexemplary table 1236 of dual meaning abbreviations. The first columnlabeled “Abbreviation” includes dual meaning abbreviations, and thesecond column labeled “Conversion” is the a conversion for thecorresponding dual meaning abbreviation in the “Abbreviation” column.One or more rules in the auditing system 104 can be configured to handlethe dual meaning abbreviations by searching for abbreviations (e.g.,terms in the “Abbreviation” column of table 1236) and replacing theabbreviations with the proper conversion terms (e.g., the “Conversion”column of table 1236). For example, if the rule detects “R RUNNINGBOARD” in the word string, it is translated to “RIGHT RUNNING BOARD.”

FIG. 12F is a diagram of another exemplary table 1238 of abbreviationsand conversion words (e.g., aliases). The first column, labeled“Abbreviation,” includes the abbreviated word which may be located inthe word string. The second column, labeled “Final Word,” includes theword the corresponding word from the “Abbreviation” column is translatedto in the word string. The auditing system 104 can include one or morerules configured to translate words from the “Abbreviation” column tothe corresponding word in the “Final Word” column if the words exist inthe word string. For example, “ABSRBR”, if located in the word string,is translated to “ABSORBER,” “ADHSV” is translated to “ADHESIVE,” and soon. The rules can be configured to compare each group of lettersseparated by a space, or single letter separated by a space in the wordstring to the abbreviations in the “Abbreviation” column with the samefirst letter. For example, the first match for a group of words in theword string an abbreviation from the “Abbreviation” column can replacethe group of letters or letter in the word string. The replacement termfrom the “Final Word” column can be placed in the same sequence positionas the original group of letters or letter in the word string. If thereis no match for a word in the string, the rules can be configured toremove the word from the word string and log the description.

The auditing system determines (1216) whether the word string containsheader information. If the auditing system contains header information,the auditing system processes (1218) the word string according to one ormore rules associated with the header information. Header informationcan include “CCC Header” information.

FIG. 12G is a diagram of an exemplary table 1240 of header informationand how the header information can be converted. The first columnlabeled “CCC Section Headers” includes a list of headers which can belocated in the word string. The second column, labeled “Orientation Word(Add this word at the beginning),” may include an orientation worddepending on the associated header from the “CCC Section Headers”column. The third column, labeled “Orientation Word (Add this word atthe end),” may include an orientation word depending on the associatedheader from the “CCC Section Headers” column. For example, if there is“CCC Header” information attached to the part word string (i.e., theoriginal word string or the word string as previously processed by oneor more rules) in the claim log table, the one or more rules can beconfigured to appropriately translate the header information. Forexample, the rules can determine if the header should be used, if theheader should be converted to different words, and/or if the headershould be discarded. The header can add words from the “Orientation Word(Add this word at the beginning)” column to the beginning of the wordstring and/or add words from the “Orientation Word (Add this word at theend)” column to the end of the word string. The fourth column, labeled“Descriptor Word (Add this word at the beginning)”, may include adescriptor word to add at the beginning of the word string. The fifthcolumn, labeled “Descriptor Word (Add this word at the end)”, mayinclude a descriptor word to add at the end of the word string.

Each row of table 1240 can have an associated rule for performing theheader information conversion. For example, for row one containing “AIRCONDITIONER & HEATER”, insert “AIR CONDITIONER” at the beginning of theword string if a word from the following list of words is in the wordsting: FAN, HOSE, SHROUD, CONDENSER, EVAPORATOR, CASE, LINE, SWITCH,PIPE, TUBE, MOTOR, BLOWER, CLUTCH, HEATER, HOUSING, COMPRESSOR, VENT,CORE, PULLEY, CONTROL, OPENING, BOX, CAP, EYE, HUB, DUCT, UNIT, INLET,BLADE, BRACE, CABLE, COVER, FRAME, MOUNT, PLATE, SHAFT, STRUT, VALVE,BAFFLE, FILLER, GRILLE, MODULE, SHIELD, SYSTEM, CONTROL, SUPPORT,ACTUATOR, MANIFOLD, RECEIVER, DISTRIBUTOR, GAS, OIL, FUSE, FLEX, ROOF,TANK, GUARD, IDLER, MOUNT, FILTER, OUTLET, WIRING, INSULATOR, PROTECTOR,DEHYDRATOR, THERMOSTAT, REFRIGERANT, TRANSMISSION, and LABEL. However,if inserting “AIR CONDITIONER” causes a duplication, do not insert theterm. If none of the words are in the word string do not use the word“AIR CONDITIONER” and go to “HEATER” (a separate row in table 1240, notshown) and test for those words.

For example, for row two containing “AIR CONDITIONER & HEATER”, don'tinsert “HEATER” at the beginning of the word string if it causes aduplication. Insert “HEATER” if at least one of the following words arein the word string: WIRING, CASE, CORE, BLOWER, EVAPORATOR, HOUSING,DUCT, SWITCH, UNIT, COVER, BEZEL, CONTROL, RETAINER, BRACKET, SEAL, FAN,and ASSEMBLY. Otherwise, if none of these words are present, do notinsert the word “HEATER.”

For example, for row three containing “BACK DOOR”, don't insert “BACK”in orientation and “DOOR” in the beginning of the word string if itcauses duplication. Insert “BACK” in orientation and “DOOR” in thebeginning of the word string if at least one of these words are presentin the word string: LOCK, SKIN, LATCH, PANEL, SHELL, VISOR, HANDLE,SWITCH, REGULATOR, LIFT, OPENER, MOTOR, FILLER, WIRING, HARNESS,OPENING, WEATHERSTRIP, GASKET, PANEL, TRIM, GLASS, INSULATION, HINGE,MOULDING, TRIM PANEL, WINDOW, POST, MIRROR, MODULE, SILL, TAPE, VENT,INSULATOR, PROTECTOR, SASH, ROD, LATCH, SCUFF, STONE, WATER, WHEEL,PILLAR, ROCKER, ARMREST, FRAME, CONTROL, GARNISH, SPEAKER, STRIKER,GRAVEL, CLADDING, TRACK, LINK, SHIELD, SHROUD, IMPACT, INSERT, CATCH,BUSHING, ENERGY, SIGNAL, CYLINDER, DEFLECTOR, TIE, BOLT, or SCREW.

For example, for row four containing “BACK GLASS”, don't insert “BACK”in orientation and “GLASS” in the beginning of the word string if itcauses duplication. Insert “BACK” in orientation and “GLASS” in thebeginning of the word string if at least one of these words are presentin the word string: MOTOR, WEATHERSTRIP, OPENING, TRIM, MOULDING, LENS,DAM, STRIKER, GUIDE, CHANNEL, SEAL, GASKET, RUN, RETAINER, RAIL, andFASTENER.

For example, for row five containing “BODY SIDE PANELS” don't insert“SIDE” in orientation and “BODY” and “PANEL” in the beginning of theword string if it causes duplication or if none of these words arepresent in the word string: ANTENNA, TRAILER, GAUGE, GLOVE, RADIO, CD,CASSETTE, FUEL, REARVIEW, AIR, FINISH, SHIELD, HINGE, LATCH, PAN, BRACE,MOULDING, SUPPORT, LINER, SPEAKER, HOLDER, BELT, CARPET, SILL,WEATHERSTRIPE, CLADDING, PAD, TAPE, MOUNT, SUPPORT, PIN, INSERT, ROD,BAR, EYE, REINFORCEMENT, NUT, BOLT, STAY, BRACKET, RETAINER, RIVET,CLIP, EMBLEM, DECAL, CONTROL, APPLIQUE, SEAL, GASKET, NAMEPLATE, GLOVE,CLUSTER, WHEEL, GROMMET, SCREW, FASTENER, BEZEL, CHANNEL, GUIDE, HAZARD,SWITCH, WIRING, PROTECTOR, ASHTRAY, SPEAKER, STONE, HARNESS, GUTTER,GARNISH, RAIL, and REGULATOR.

For example, for row six containing “CAB” don't insert “CABIN” in thebeginning of the word string if it causes duplication or if none of thefollowing words are present in the word string: RUNNING, TRANSFER, FUEL,SECTION, ROOF, TRIM, PANEL, BAR, FRAME, CORNER, FILLER, SPEAKER,MOULDING, DOOR, SUNVISOR, COWL, LOCK, PILLAR, SEAT, BACKUP, LAMP,ROCKER, LICENSE, UNDERSIDE, WINDSHIELD, ANTENNA, GLASS, WINDOW, DASH,DOME, FUEL, HEATER, LAMP, TAPE, CARPET, VENT, FLOOR, DRIVE, GRILLE,INLET, DAMPER, HEADER, FLARE, CONTROL, SUNROOF, OVERHEAD, PRESSURE,TAILGATE, and AIR.

For example, for row seven containing “CENTER PILLAR & ROCKER PANEL”

For example, for row eight containing “CENTER PILLAR & ROCKER PANEL”,don't insert “CENTER” in orientation and “PILLAR” in the beginning ofthe word string if it causes duplication or if none of the followingwords are present in the word string: MOULDING, WINDOW, TRIM, BAFFLE,BELT, PANEL, ROCKER, COVER, FINISH, INSULATOR, GARNISH, WEATHERSTRIP,FILLER, BRACE, EXTENSION, HANDLE, LAMP, VENT, DECAL, LABEL, andAPPLIQUE. If none of the words are in the word string, do not use theword “CENTER PILLAR” and go to “ROCKER PANEL” (a separate row in table1240, not shown) and test for those words.

For example, for row nine containing “CLEAR COAT”, never insert theword.

For example, for row ten containing “CONSOLE”, don't insert “CONSOLE” inthe beginning of the word string if it causes duplication or if none ofthe following words are present in the word string: FLOOR, HAZARD,WINDOW, CONTROL, TRANSFER, SEAT, BOOT, VENT, CD, RADIO, SWITCH, ARMREST,AMPLIFIER, CUSHION, DOOR, KEY, FLEX, SHELF, WASHER, BATTERY, SHIFTER,SPEAKER, INTERIOR, PROTECTOR, PARK, OUTLET, AIR, MAT, TRIM, MOULDING,HOLDER, LINING, ASHTRAY, HARNESS, HOUSING, COMPARTMENT, LID, BEZEL,BRACKET, STRIP, KNOB, RETAINER, SHIFT, MOUNT, REINFORCEMENT, DOME,VIDEO, and CABLE.

For example, for row eleven containing “CONVERTIBLE TOP” don't insert“CONVERTIBLE” in the beginning of the word string if it causesduplication or if none of these words are present in the word string:TOP, BLOCK, COVER, GLASS, WASHER, EXHAUST, LIFT, MOTOR, HINGE, PILLAR,DOOR, ROCKER, CROSS, TRUNK, BATTERY, ROOF, FENDER, QUARTER PANEL, SEAL,and BOW.

The auditing system determines (1220) whether the word string containsone or more ambiguous terms. If the auditing system contains one or moreambiguous terms, the auditing system processes (1222) the word stringaccording to one or more rules associated with the one or more ambiguousterms. The one or more ambiguous terms can include dual meaning words inthe word string. For example, the word “Clip” can be either a groupingof parts or a simple fastener.

FIGS. 12H and 12I are exemplary diagrams of table 1242 which includes anexemplary list of dual meaning words and associated terms, with columnsone through seven shown FIG. 12H, and the remaining columns eightthrough fourteen shown in FIG. 12I. Columns one through seven, labeled“And1,” “And2,” “And3,” “And4,” “Or1,” “Or2,” and “Or3,” respectively,include words which may appear in the word string. Columns eight througheleven, labeled “Constraint 1,” “Constraint 2,” “Constraint 3,” and“Constraint 4,” respectively, include constraint terms which may appearin the word string. Columns “Or1,” “Or2,” and “Or3,” include dualmeaning words. Columns “And1,” “And2,” “And3,” and “And4,” include wordswhich may appear before the dual meaning words in columns “Or1,” “Or2,”and “Or3.” Columns twelve through fourteen, labeled “Orientation,”“Descriptor,” and “Item Name,” respectively, include words whichrepresent the translation of the dual meaning words into the ConvertedNon-HQ Part Description (CNHQPD) table. The CNHQPD table is a temporarytable created to hold the result of the raw word string processing bythe translator (e.g., the part translator 132). For example, as the wordstring is pared into various categories, the portions of the word stringare loaded into the table for comparison to table 1250 of FIGS. 120-12W.

The one or more rules can be configured to determine if the word stringincludes any dual meaning words from columns “Or1,” “Or2,” or “Or3.” Forexample, if the word string includes one or more dual meaning words andthe words are preceded by any of the sets of words shown in columns“And1,” “And2,” “And3,” or “And4,” and none of the words shown inconstraint columns “Constraint 1,” “Constraint 2,” “Constraint 3,” or“Constraint 4,” appear in the word string, then the words from the “itemname,” “orientation,” and “descriptor” columns can be placed in the“item name,” “orientation,” “descriptor” portion of the matching table(e.g., the CNHQPD Table). The words do not need to be in sequence in theword string, nor do the words need to be the only words in the string tomatch. If, for example, the word string is translated, the word stringcan be matched to an identifier (see, e.g., FIGS. 15A-15B).

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary method 1330 for translating a wordstring according to a first embodiment. The auditing system 104determines (1332) whether the word string contains one or more improperterms. If the auditing system 104 determines the word string containsone or more improper terms, the auditing system 104 terminates (1334)the translation process. If the auditing system 104 determines the wordstring does not contain improper terms, the auditing system runs (1336,1338) one or more specific parts rules and/or one or more combinationrules on the word string.

The auditing system 104 determines (1340) whether the word stringcontains one or more predetermined terms. If the word string containsone or more predetermined terms, the auditing system 104 processes(1342) the predetermined terms. The auditing system 104 determines(1344) whether the word string contains one or more punctuation marks.If the word string contains one or more punctuation marks, the auditingsystem 104 processes (1346) the punctuation marks. The auditing systemdetermines (1348) if the word string is able to be matched to anidentifier. The auditing system 104 can estimate the answer if there isnot enough information for the word string. The auditing system 104matches (1350) the word string to an identifier. If at any time the wordstring is represented by a single word, that word is deemed (1352) theitem name. The auditing system 104 can move to the matching table forcomparison with identifiers.

The auditing system 104 (e.g., in a rules engine) has a set of rulesthat addresses specific parts. For example, a rule can be configured todetermine if the word string contains the words “converter” and“exhaust,” then the descriptor is “catalytic” and the item name is“converter.” These specific part rules can be used to help identifycommon word usage in part descriptions. All of the rules can be runagainst the word string in sequence.

The auditing system has a set of rules that addresses the use ofcombinations of common words used in part descriptions. For example, arule can be configured to determine if the word string contains the wordset “four wheel drive” but not the word “axle,” and delete the word set“four wheel drive.” These rules can be used to help avoid misleadingword combinations that make the word string appear ambiguous. All of therules can be run against the word string in sequence.

The predetermined items can include orientation words, punctuation,and/or combinations of words. Orientation words describe the location orplacement of a part.

An exemplary list of “Orientation Words” is BACK, BACKWARD, BOTTOM,CENTER, DRIVER, DRIVERSIDE, FLEET, FORWARD, FRONT, INNER, LEFT, LOWER,MIDDLE, OUTER, PASSENGER, PASSENGERSIDE, REAR, RIGHT, SIDE, STEP, UNDER,UP, and UPPER. If there are word matches in the word string with termsfrom the “Orientation Words,” the rules can be configured to move theseto the matching table (e.g., the CNHQPD Table) for placement in theorientation fields in the same sequence they appear in the word string.The rules can be configured to remove the orientation words from theword string.

If the remaining word string begins with a coma, one or more rules canbe configured to delete the coma before continuing processing the wordstring. If the word string has the first and/or the second worddelineated by a coma, the one or more rules can be configured todetermine the first and/or second words in the string is the item nameunless the word is “assembly” or “set.” If, for example, the wordpreceding the coma is “assembly” or “set,” the rules can be configuredto delete the word “assembly” or “set.” If, for example, there is a wordthat was preceding “assembly” or “set,” the one or more rules can beconfigured to treat the word as the item name and all other words asdescriptors of the item name. The one or more rules can be configured,after determining the word preceding the coma is not “assembly” or“set,” to treat the word preceding the coma as the item name (e.g., andto load the word into the item name field in the CNHQPD Table). Therules can be configured to treat the other word as the first descriptorand the remainder of the string can be loaded into the followingdescriptor fields in their present sequence. The rules can be configuredto remove all comas in the word string. The rules can be configured tomake sure that all words are separated by just one space. Based on theprocessing, the rules can be configured to match an identifier with theword string or continue processing.

The rules can be configured to deal with groupings of words. Forexample, if the word string consists of two or more words, one of whichis the word “assembly,” “set,” “extension,” “unit,” or a fastener (e.g.,one of the exemplary terms listed in the list BOLT, CLIP, EXTENSION,GROMMET, LUG, NUT, RIVET, SCREW, STUD, UNIT, ASSEMBLY, and SET) therules can be configured appropriately. For example, if the word stringincludes “fastener,” “extension,” and/or “unit,” a rule can beconfigured to place the descriptor(s) in a descriptor field in thematching table. The rule can be configured to place “fastener,”“extension,” or “unit” in the item name field in the matching table. Therule can be configured to delete all words following the word“fastener,” “extension,” or “unit.”

The rule can be configured so that if “assembly” or “set” is located inthe word string, all words following the word “assembly” or “set” aredeleted. The word preceding “assembly” or “set” can be placed in theitem name field. Other words (e.g., all the remaining words can beplaced in the descriptor fields. The rules can be configured to deletethe word “assembly” or “set.” If one word remains, the rule can beconfigured to treat the remaining word as the item name. For example,the rule can be configured to place the remaining word in item namefield of the matching table. The rule can be configured, upondetermining that “assembly” or “set” is the first word in the wordstring, to delete “assembly” or “set.”

The auditing system 104, in some embodiments, can determine whether theword string satisfies a condition associated with the predetermineditem. If the word string satisfies the condition, the auditing system104 can generate the translated item description. For example, theauditing system 104 can include rules (e.g., tests) for patternrecognition of standard part description patterns. For example, theremaining string can be parsed to determine the presence of a primaryitem name. A primary item name is, for example, a bumper, hood, fender,etc.

An exemplary listing of primary item names is AIR, AXLE, BED, BEDSIDE,BODY, BRAKE, BUMPER, CABIN, CLUTCH, AIRCONDITIONER, CONSOLE, COWL, DOOR,EMISSION, ENGINE, EXHAUST, FENDER, FUEL, GRILLE, HEADLAMP, HEATER, HOOD,QUARTERPANEL, RADIATOR, ROOF, STEERING, SUSPENSION, TRANSMISSION, TRUNK,WASHER, WHEEL, WINDOW, WINDSHIELD, and WIPER. The rules can beconfigured to place the first match in the first descriptor field in thematching table. The rules can be configured, upon determining there aretwo consecutive primary item names in the word string, to treat the twowords as a single primary item name. If, for example, there are twoprimary item name words in the string and they are not consecutive, therules can be configured to, for a lack of information, performstatistical estimates (see, e.g., FIGS. 15A-15B).

If a primary item name exists in the word string, the word sequence canbe important. For example, if the primary item name is the first word inthe word string, then the last word in the string may be the wordstring's item name. The rules can be configured to place the last wordin the “item name” field in the matching table (e.g., the CNHQPD Table).The words between the primary item name (e.g., the first word in thestring) and the item name (e.g., the last word in the word string) canbe placed in the second, third & fourth descriptor fields in the samesequence they are in the string.

If, for example, the primary item name is the last word in the string,then the first word in the string may be the string's item name. Therules can be configured to place the first word of the string in the“item name” field in the matching table. The rules can be configured toplace the rest of the words in sequence in the descriptor fields afterthe “primary item name” is placed in the first descriptor field.

If, for example, the primary item name is in the middle of the string,the rules can be configured to treat the word to the right of it as thestring's item name. The word can be placed in the “item name” field ofthe matching table. To the left, all words can be placed in sequence inthe descriptor fields after the primary item name is placed in firstdescriptor field. The rule can be configured to ignore all other words.

If a translated item description is not generated, the auditing system104 can generate the translated item description based on a statisticalestimation. The rules can be configured to estimate the correct answerbased on statistical norms. For example, if the remaining string doesnot have a primary item name, the string has two non-consecutive primaryitem names, and/or the string is made up of only primary item names, therules can be configured to place the last word in the string in the“item name” field and the other words in the descriptor fields in thesequence they appear in the string.

FIG. 12J is a diagram of an exemplary table 1244 that includes a list ofwords which should not be translated. Column one is the “One Word andListed Words” column, and if the word string consists of one word onlyand any of the words in column one, then the part translator 132 doesnot try to translate the word string. Column two is the “One Word andOrientation Words” column, and if the word string consists of only aword from column two and orientation words, then the part translator 132does not try to translate the word. Column three is the “One Word”column, and if the word string consists of only one word and any of thewords in column three is that word, then the part translator 132 willalways try to translate the word. If, for example, one word remains orone word and orientation words only, rules can be configured to check tosee if the word should not be translated. If that word is a word thatshould not be translated, the auditing system 104 can move to a lack ofinformation step that does not provide a translation.

FIGS. 14A-14C illustrate an exemplary method 1400 for translating a wordstring according to a second embodiment. The auditing system 104 runs(1402) one or more combination rules on the word string. If the auditingsystem determines (1404) the word string contains one or morepunctuation marks (e.g., through running one or more rules), theauditing system 104 processes (1406) the punctuation marks. If theauditing system 104 determines the word string contains (1408) one ormore joinable words, the auditing system joins (1410) the words. Theauditing system 104 compares (1412) the word string against the buildtable. If at any time the word string is represented by a single word,the word is determined (1414) to be the item name.

The predetermined items can include commas and/or word pairs. Forexample, all comas in the word string can be removed, making sure thatall words are separated by one space. FIG. 12K is a diagram of anexemplary table 1246 that shows a list of combination words. The firstcolumn labeled “First Word” and the second column labeled “Second Word”list the two words of a word combination. The corresponding entry in thethird column, labeled “Combined Word” is the combination of the twowords. For example, if any of the word pairs shown in columns “FirstWord” and “Second Word” appear in the remaining word string (even if notconsecutive), the words can be treated as one word as shown in thecorresponding entry of the “Combined Word” column of table 1246.

As shown in FIGS. 14B and 14C, the auditing system 104 compares the wordstring against a build table to generate a relationship between the oneor more words of the word string, the build table comprising one or moreindex words, each index word being associated with index information. InFIG. 14B, the auditing system 104 selects (1420) a word from the wordstring. If the word is (1422) an orientation word, the word is placed(1424) at the front of the word string. If not, if the remaining wordsmatch (1426) a list of preceding terms, the preceding relationship isrecorded (1428). Otherwise, if the remaining words match (1430) a listof anteceding terms, the anteceding relationship is recorded (1432). Theprocess repeats (1434) if there are remaining untested words in the wordstring. Once all words are accounted for (1436), the string is matched(1438). Otherwise, if all words are not accounted for, the auditingsystem 104 tests (1440) non-orientation words.

FIGS. 12L-12N are diagrams of an exemplary table 1248, which is anexample of a build table. FIG. 12L shows columns one through for, FIG.12M shows columns five through nine, and FIG. 12N shows columns tenthrough fifteen. Table 1248 includes a first column, labeled “Index”(“I”) containing a unique index number for each row. The second column“Dictionary,” (“D”), includes the terms of interest. Table 1248 isindexed with the words in the “Dictionary” column. The table can also beindexed by, for example, the terms in table 1238. The table providesthree types of information about each index word through columns threethrough five, labeled “When Is A Noun,” (“When Noun”) “When Is AnAdjective,” and “When Is An Orientation,” respectively. The “When Is ANoun” column lists the criteria when the corresponding entry in the“Dictionary” column is considered a noun. The “When Is An Adjective”column lists the criteria for when the corresponding entry in the“Dictionary” column is considered an adjective. The “When Is AnOrientation” column lists the criteria when the corresponding entry inthe “Dictionary” column is treated as an orientation word.

The sixth through thirteenth columns, labeled “Major Assembly,”“Assembly A,” “Sub-Assembly B.” “Sub-Assembly Component,” “SimpleComponent,” “Support Structure,” “Protector,” and“Hardware/Consumables,” consecutively, provide information correspondingto build number. For example, if the corresponding entry in the“Dictionary” column is associated with the words present (if any) in theentry for the “Major Assembly” column, the build number is 8, if thecorresponding entry in the “Dictionary” column is associated with thewords present (if any) in the entry for the “Assembly A” column, thebuild number is 7, and so on. The fourteenth column, labeled “GenericBuild Number,” lists a generic build number for the corresponding entryin the “Dictionary” column. The fifteenth column, labeled “GenericClassification,” lists a classification for the corresponding entry inthe “Dictionary” column.

For example, the auditing system can categorize the index words asprimarily noun, adjective or orientation words based on the “When Is ANoun,” “When Is An Adjective,” and “When Is An Orientation” columns,recognizing that some words can be both. The tested word can beprocessed differently depending on how the word is labeled. For example,if the tested word is a noun, the words that tend to precede the nounare listed in the “When Is A Noun” column. If, for example, the word“never” is in the “When Is A Noun” column, then the tested word is notused as a noun. If the tested word is an adjective, the words that tendto “follow” the adjective are listed in the “When Is An Adjective”column. If, for example, the word “never” is listed in the “When Is AnAdjective” column, then the tested “word” is not used as a adjective.If, for example, the word “always” and/or “all words” is listed in the“When Is An Adjective” column, then the tested word is usually used as aadjective for all words it appears with. The same can be true for thewords in the “When Is An Orientation” column.

Tables similar to table 1248 can be generated, for example, based on theperspective of item names and descriptions. In some examples, table 1248is based on 1.5 million random item names and descriptions. For example,word placement trends can be utilized to generate a table like table1248. For example, if the word is primarily a noun then it will have aset of words that “precede” the noun (e.g., superior to the noun in therelationship), whereas if it is primarily an adjective it will have agroup of words that normally follow the word within a word string (e.g.,inferior to the adjective in the relationship). Other word trends caninclude, for example, if the word is primarily a noun then the word willbe the first word in the preceding word group. (e.g., the reason forthis is that there may be word groups under the noun category at timeswhen the word is not primarily a noun).

If each word in the word string is tested using, for example, table1248, the auditing system 104 may find words in the word string wherethe word being tested is either a noun or an adjective, therebyindicating whether it precedes or follows the word being tested. Forexample, assume there is a word sting with “A, B, C, D”, where none ofthe words are orientation words. The auditing system 104 can generate astring of relationships such as: A>C, B>C>D, C>D, B>D. In order tosatisfy all the relationships in this case, the word string sequencemust be A, B, C, D, where D is treated as the item name. A correct orderof the words in the word string sequence can be determined by the orderthat correctly satisfies all the relationships in table 1248. There canbe as many relationships as there are words in the word string. Wordstested and found to be orientation words can simply be held asorientation words that precede the word string.

Table 1248 provides a generic build number andnoun/adjective/orientation categorization. The “Generic Build Number”column and the “Generic Classification” column provide the genericcategorization. The “Generic Classification” column can be used todetermine whether the word being tested is a Noun, Adjective,Orientation word. The “Generic Build Number” column, for adjectives,indicates the word should be treated as Descriptors. For nouns, the“Generic Build Number” column provides a generic build number. Genericbuild numbers can represent, for example, 8=Major Assembly, 7=Assembly,6=Sub Assembly, 5=Sub Assembly Component, 4=Simple Component, 3=SinglePressed/Rolled/Cast/Fiber Support Structure, 2=Plastic/RubberTrim−Molding-Protector, and 1=Hardware/Consumables.

For orientation words, the “Generic Build Number” column can indicatethe word is an orientation word. Orientation words can be collected andplaced at the front of the word string. Word strings with multiple nounsand descriptors can be sequenced to abide by the following statement:after orientation words the highest build noun followed by thedescriptor words followed last be the lowest build noun which is theitem name. Parts can be described by what the part is attached to, whatthe part is a part of, and/or what the part is located near. Forexample, the lowest build number can be the item name.

The “Major Assembly,” “Assembly A,” “Sub-Assembly B,” “Sub-AssemblyComponent,” “Simple Component,” “Support Structure,” “Protector,” and“Hardware/Consumables” columns can indicate information for a customizedBuild Number. A noun it can be part of item names that reside atdifferent levels in the build table. For example, the word “receiver”can be a simple connector on a tow bar or it can be a receiver in acomplex navigation system, and therefore two different levels of numberare supplied. These numbers can be determined by matching the words inthe various columns between “Major Assembly,” “Assembly A,”“Sub-Assembly B.” “Sub-Assembly Component,” “Simple Component,” “SupportStructure,” “Protector,” and “Hardware/Consumables” with other wordsbesides the word being tested in the word string. For example, if forthe test the auditing system 104 is using “word receiver” and otherwords in the word string are either “navigation,” “keyless entry,” or“radio,” then receiver in this case is a sub assembly with the buildnumber 6. If the other words in the word string had been “frame,”“hitch,” or “bumper,” then receiver in this case is a sub assemblycomponent with the build number 5. The build numbers collected for theword string from the “Major Assembly,” “Assembly A,” “Sub-Assembly B,”“Sub-Assembly Component,” “Simple Component,” “Support Structure,”“Protector,” and “Hardware/Consumables” columns are treated just as thenumbers collected from the “Generic Build Number” column. In someexamples, however there is a slightly higher degree of accuracy withregard to the build level of each word in the “Major Assembly,”“Assembly A,” “Sub-Assembly B.” “Sub-Assembly Component,” “SimpleComponent,” “Support Structure,” “Protector,” and “Hardware/Consumables”columns.

For example, assume a word string includes “A B C D.” Each word in theword string is tested. For example, word “A” is tested by locating word“A” in the “Dictionary” column to identify the build row that pertainsto information about this word. If the corresponding entry in the “WhenIs An Orientation” has an “Always,” the test word A is an orientationword, and it is positioned first in the word string. If it has a “Never”continue to the “When is A Noun” column. In the corresponding cell inthe “When is A Noun” column, determine if any of the words “B”, “C”, “D”are present. If any of the words are present, they precede “A” or theyare >then “A”. If the relationships exist they are recorded foranalysis, otherwise the process continues.

For the corresponding entry in the “When Is An Adjective” column,determine if any of the words “B”, “C”, “D” are present. If any of thewords are present, they follow, or antecede, “A” or they are <then “A.”If the relationships exist they are recorded for analysis, otherwise theprocess continues.

The process repeats as indicated above for words B, C, and D. The systemdetermines whether all the words are accounted for by being related toone another. If all words are accounted for, then the auditing system104 sequences the words to satisfy all relationships and places anyorientation words in the front of the resulting word string. Thetranslation can move to the identification step with the matching table(See, e.g., FIGS. 15A-15B). If all words are not accounted for, then theauditing system 104 sequence the words to satisfy all relationships thatexist and places any orientation words in the front of the resultingword string. The one or more words without a relationship (i.e.,non-orientation words) are placed at the end of the word string andprocessed as shown in FIG. 14C.

In FIG. 14C, the auditing system selects (1450) a non-orientation wordfrom the word string. The selected word is tested (1452) for a buildnumber. If a build number was not assigned (1454), the auditing system104 assigns (1456) a build number. The process repeats (1458) steps 1450through 1456 for each remaining non-orientation word to test. Theauditing system arranges (1460) the word string. If the auditing system104 determines (1462) the word string does not have properrelationships, the auditing system 104 logs (1464) the word string.Otherwise, the auditing system matches (1466) the word string (see,e.g., FIGS. 15A-15B).

For example, returning to the “A B C D” word string example, each wordbesides orientation words are tested (1452). if word A is anon-orientation word, A is tested by locating word A in the “Dictionary”column to identify the build row that pertains to information about wordA. For the corresponding entries in the “Major Assembly,” “Assembly A,”“Sub-Assembly B.” “Sub-Assembly Component,” “Simple Component,” “SupportStructure,” “Protector,” and “Hardware/Consumables” columns, theauditing system determines if any of the words B, C, or D are present.If any of the words are present, then test word A should be assigned thebuild number corresponding to the column where the cell match occurred.If no match occurred (1454), the auditing system 104 assigns (1456) thegeneric build number of the corresponding entry in the “Generic BuildNumber” column.

The process above is repeated (1458) for each word B, C, or D that arenon-orientation words. The auditing system 104 can determine whether allthe words in the word string “A B C D” are properly identified. Forexample, each word should be identified as an orientation word, a nounwith a build number, or an adjective denoted as a build number. Theauditing system 104 can arrange (1460) the word string, for example,with any orientation words first, any nouns with a number arrangedhighest to lowest (where the lowest noun is the item name), and anyadjectives placed directly before the item name. The auditing system 104determines (1462) whether the relationships established in the firsttest (e.g., FIG. 14B) are maintained with exception of the word(s)without relationships and the orientation words. If the relationshipsestablished in the first test are maintained with exception of theword(s) without relationships and the orientation words, the auditingsystem 104 matches (1438) with the matching table (see, e.g., FIGS.15A-15B). Otherwise, the auditing system 104 can log (1464) informationof the word string in, for example, a bad translation log.

FIGS. 15A-15B illustrate an exemplary method 400 for matching atranslated word. The auditing system 104 obtains (1502) a matching table(e.g., a CNHQPD table) including the translated item description. Theauditing system (104) determines if there are one or more constraints inone or more rows of the matching information table. If there are one ormore constraints in a row, the auditing system 104 ignores (1506) therow. The auditing system creates (1508) a temporary table, wherein eachrow comprises an item name matching the translated item description, anda match indicator. For each row of the temporary table, the auditingsystem 104 determines (1510) if the match indicator meets a minimummatch value. If the row does not meet the minimum match value, theauditing system 104 sets (1512) the row as a no match. If only one rowmeets a maximum match value (1514), the auditing system 104 sets (1516)the row as the match. Otherwise, the auditing system 104 checks each rowto determine (1518) whether multiple rows contain a similar matchindicator. If multiple rows contain a similar match indicator, theauditing system 104 determines (1520) whether the multiple rows match arow combination. If yes, the auditing system provides (1522) apredetermined number of item identifiers for each multiple rowcombination.

For example, the matching information table (e.g., the CNHQPD tablerepresentation of the translated item description) is compared to anitem description table with one or more matching rules in the auditingsystem 104. FIGS. 12O-12W are diagrams of an exemplary table 1250, anitem description table. FIG. 12O shows columns one through six, named“CAT_NAME”, “SUB_CAT_NAME”, “SUB_SUB_CAT_NAME”, “GENERIC PART ID”,“MATCH COUNT”, and “ORIENTATION 1,” respectively. The CAT_NAME columnincludes the category name, which for the rows in FIG. 12O is “AIR BAGS& AIR BAG ELECTRICAL.” The SUB_CAT_NAME column lists the sub-category ofthe corresponding category name for each row. The two sub-categories are“AIR BAGS” (rows one through four) and “ELECTRICAL” (in rows fivethrough six). The SUB_SUB_CAT NAME column lists the sub-category of thecorresponding sub-category name for each row. The GENERIC PART ID columnincludes a generic part ID number for each row. The MATCH COUNT columnsindicate the number of matches. The ORIENTATION 1 column includesorientation words.

FIG. 12P shows columns seven through fourteen named “Orientation Alias1”, “Orientation Alias 2”, “Orientation Alias 3”, “Orientation Alias 4”,“Orientation Alias 5”, “Descriptor 1”, “Descriptor Alias 1”, and“Descriptor Alias 2”, respectively. Columns seven through eleven includeorientation alias words. The “Descriptor 1” column includes descriptorwords. Although only one Descriptor column is shown, table 1250 caninclude any number of descriptor columns. FIG. 12Q shows columns fifteenthrough twenty-two, labeled “Descriptor Alias 3”, “Descriptor Alias 4”,“Descriptor Alias 5”, “Descriptor Alias 2”, “Descriptor Alias 7”, “PartName”, “Part Name Alias Word 1”, and “Part Name Alias Word 2,”respectively. The Descriptor Alias columns (e.g., Descriptor Alias 1through Descriptor Alias 7) include descriptor alias terms. The PartName column includes the part name of the row. The Part Name Alias Word1 and Part Name Alias Word 2 columns include part name alias words.

FIG. 12R shows columns twenty-three through thirty, which are labeledconsecutively from “Constraint Word 1” through “Constraint Word 8.” FIG.12S includes columns thirty-one through thirty-eight, which are labeledconsecutively from “Constraint Word 9” through “Constraint Word 16.”FIG. 12T includes columns thirty-nine through forty-five, which arelabeled consecutively from “Constraint Word 17” through “Constraint Word23.” FIG. 12U includes columns forty-six through fifty-one, wherecolumns forty-six through fifty are labeled consecutively from“Constraint Word 24” through “Constraint Word 28.” Column fifty-one islabeled “Orientation Alias 2/NO CONSTRAINT CONFLICT” and includes termswhere, for the “Orientation Alias 2” column from FIG. 12P, there is noconstraint conflict. As indicated in FIG. 12U, there can be any numberof columns before and/or after column fifty-one for other constraintconflicts for columns in table 1250.

FIG. 12V includes columns fifty-two through fifty-nine, labeled“Orientation Words” (“Orient. Words”), “Orientation Alias Words”(“Orient. Alias Words”), “Descriptor Words”, “Descriptor Alias Words”,“Part Name Words”, “Part Name Alias Words,” “Hit Count”, and “GenericPart ID.” Columns fifty-two through fifty-nine relate to word counts forthe particular column indicators. FIG. 12W includes columns sixtythrough sixty-five. Columns sixty, sixty-one, and sixty-two areindicative of “Part Description—1” for each row. Columns sixty-three,sixty-four, and sixty-five are indicative of “Part Description—12.” Asindicated in FIG. 12W, any number of additional part descriptions can beincluded in table 1250 between “Part Description—1” and “PartDescription—12” and/or after “Part Description—12.” Any number ofcolumns can be used in table 1250 as necessary to represent each rowentry (e.g., more orientation columns to represent additionalorientation words, etc.). A match can also attach an identifier (e.g., apart ID) to the item. If no match occurs then the original translateditem description can be placed in, for example, a log table.

If there are any constraint word matches (1504) in constraint columns(e.g., the Constraint Word 1 column through the Constraint Word 28column) of table 1250, then that row is not used in the temporary tablefor analysis. The matching rules takes the item name located in matchinginformation table and searches for all matches in item name and aliascolumns of table 1250 (e.g., from the “orientation 1” column through the“descriptor alias 7” column). The auditing system 104 creates (1508) atemporary table for analysis of the information which consists of allthe match rows found in table 1250. These rows contain, for example,orientation, orientation alias, descriptor, descriptor alias, matchindicator, item name and item name alias information. The matchindicator is a number of term matches for the particular row. The matchpercentage is calculated for each category of word. The percentage canbe calculated, for example, by using the denominator as the count oforientation, descriptor and item name words in the table 1250description for the matching row, and the numerator as the count of anymatches that occur in any of the categories (e.g., orientation,descriptor, descriptor alias, item name, item name alias).

The Match Count column in FIG. 12O includes the minimum count for amatch for the corresponding row. The matching rules can verify that theminimum has been achieved (1510) for each row based on the associatedmatch indicator. If not, the row may not be used in the match analysis.If the auditing system determines (1512) there is one match which fullfills all the requirements of the minimum match level, the match has noconstraint words, and there are no other candidates for the match, theauditing system 104 can associate the generic item identifier as theitem translation. For example, if a part name string is “Right FrontImpact Absorber”, the min count is three (3) and the actual count is one(1) for orientation, one (1) for orientation alias, one (1) fordescriptor, and one (1) for part name. There are no constraint words, sothe total count of four (4) indicates the part name string is acandidate item translation.

If the auditing system determines (1518) there are multiple matches withthe same fulfillment requirements, the matching rules can handle thesituation appropriately. FIG. 12X is a diagram of an exemplary table1252 that lists generic item identifiers which can require associatingmultiple generic item identifiers with a particular word string. Thefirst column, column “Index” (“I”) contains a unique identifier for eachrow. The second through ninth columns, labeled “Col. A”, “Col. B”, “Col.C”, “Col. D”, “Col. E”, “Col. F”, “Col. G”, and “Col. H”, respectively,list generic identifiers. For example, if a part name string is “AxleShaft”, the part name string has four candidates: Front right axleshaft, Front left axle shaft, Rear right axle shaft, and Rear left axleshaft. These four candidates are reported. If, for example, there is amatch with the generic item identifier of the entry and table 1250, thecustomer can be provided with dual translations, or any number oftranslations (e.g., five translations). This can occur, for example,when an insurance estimator has not included orientation information todifferent between symmetrical part types (e.g., right and left frontfender, etc.).

If no match can be found (e.g., no word remains in the word string tomatch after the matching rules are complete), the auditing system 104can log the description and indicate there is insufficient informationfor a translation. A list of exemplary words which should not beincluded in the word string during the matching steps is ANTIFREEZE,APPLIQUE, BADGE, BALL, BOLT, BUCKLE, BULB, BUTTON, CANISTER, CHANNEL,CLAMP, CLIP, CLOCK SPRING, CLOCKSPRING, DECAL, EMBLEM, FASTNER, FLAP,GASKET, GROMMET, GUIDE, HANGER, KNOB, LABEL, LETTER, LOGO, MUDGUARD,NAMEPLATE, NUT, ORNAMENT, RELAY, RETAINER, RIVET, ROPE, SCREW, SEAL,SEALER, SHACKLE, SHIM, SNAP, SPACER, STAY, STRAP, STRIPE, STUD, U BOLT,U-BOLT, WEDGE, CAULK, and SEALER. If, for example, the word stringincludes one or more words from this list, the auditing system can logthe description and indicate there is no translation possible due to theinclusion of one or more of the words in the list.

The following is an exemplary translation method using some of the rulesdiscussed above. The following exemplary translation method is intendedfor illustrative purposes only:

(1) Treat the “word string” as a machine generated or user generatedfree text field and tested for a particular pattern of machine generateddescription using Table 1. If this machine pattern is present than run arule that removes specific un-needed words from the part word string. Ifthe pattern exists then the truncated part word string moves to the nextstep. If this is not the case then the whole word string moves to thenext step.

(2) Test the “part word string” for various types of punctuationcharacters to determine whether all characters are preceded by a spaceand followed by a space. If they are not then add spaces as needed toprepare the part word string for further processing. If punctuationcharacters don't exist then move the part word string to the next step.If the punctuation characters exist then the rule adds the necessaryspaces and the word string will progress to the next step.

(3) Test the part word string for existence of standard terminology thathas no real impact on the part being described using Table 2. If presentin the part word string remove the terms. If the throw-away terminologyexists then the truncated part word string moves to the next step.Otherwise the whole word string moves to the next step.

(4) Test word string is tested for “repair” and “finishing” on doorshells and panels. Look for specific word phrases included in, forexample, the rules engine. If such word phrases don't exist then thepart word string moves to the next step. If the word phrases do exist,remove the necessary words, and add the necessary words, and move theword string to the next step.

(5) Test the word string for the presence of a form of “cross-member.”Look for specific word phrases included in, for example, the rulesengine. If the word form does not exist, then move the part word stringto the next step. If the word form does exist, remove the necessarywords and add the “cross-member” identifier word and move to the nextstep.

(6) Determine if “other things” have been included with the partdescription that does not add value to the identification of the part.If “other things” have been included, determine where and how many wordsare not required. If this is not the case, move the part word stringmoves to the next step. Otherwise, all words dealing with unnecessary“other things” are removed by the rules, and the word string moves tothe next step.

(7) If the part word string contains a description with the words “headsup display” attached, the rules engine will make a determination if the“heads up display” is the part and if so, move the item name anddescriptor word to the matching table, skipping all subsequent rules inbetween. If this is not the case then the part word string moves to thenext step.

(8) Determine if the part word string contains the words “sportsuspension.” If so, remove all unnecessary words that hinderidentification of the item name and its necessary orientation anddescriptor words and move the remaining item name word string to thenext step. Otherwise move the part word string to the next step.

(9) Determine if the part word string contains the words “standardsuspension.” If so, remove all unnecessary words that hinderidentification of the item name and its necessary orientation anddescriptor words, and move the remaining item name word string to thenext step. If this is not the case, move the part word string to thenext step.

(10) Determine if the part word string contains the words “automatic ormanual transmission.” If so, remove all unnecessary words that hinderidentification of the item name and its necessary orientation anddescriptor words, and the remaining item name word string moves to thenext step. Otherwise, move the part word string moves to the next step.

(11) Determine if the word string contains consecutive words startingwith the words “manual” and “steering” and followed by a word startingwith “co.” If it does, remove all unnecessary words that hinderidentification of the item name and its necessary orientation anddescriptor words, and move the remaining item name word string to thenext step. Otherwise, move the part word string to the next step.

(12) If the part word string contains the word “combination” with anorientation abbreviation, remove the abbreviation and replace it with acomplete orientation word and move the part word string to the nextstep. Otherwise move the part word string to the next step.

(13) Address abbreviations containing both text and non-text charactersusing table 1234. If there is a match, replace the words accordingly,otherwise move the part word string to the next step.

(14) Identify if there are groupings of structural and sheet metal partssuch as “assembly”, “clip”, “structure”, “section”, and “sheet metal.”Test for “Clip Designator” words in the word string scanning throughtable 1230. If a match is found the remaining part of the word string isexamined and replaced with the correct orientation, descriptor and itemname. Upon completion the replacement word string is loaded into thematching table (e.g., the CNHQPD table) skipping the remaining part ofthe process until the word string is tested against the item type list(e.g., FIGS. 15A-15B). Otherwise, move the original part word string tothe next step.

(15) If there are any abbreviations for “without” and “with xxxx,”remove the abbreviations and the part of the word string following thoseabbreviations and continue to the next step. Otherwise move to the nextstep.

(16) Remove all metric indicators (alpha-numeric, alpha, and numericalcharacters dealing with metrics), with exception of the following threerepresentations “1st”, “2nd”, and “3rd” using Table 4. If identified,delete the word(s) from the part word string. If they are not present,test for combinations of alpha-numeric combinations and if found deletethem from the part word string. Then continue to the next step.

(17) Test for computer generated formats with internal code notationsand remove the superfluous computer generated custom codes, if any. Thencontinue to the next step.

(18) Determine if there are any non-alpha-numeric characters in the wordstring and remove any non-alpha-numeric characters in the word stringwith the exception of comas. If parenthesizes are removed, also removeall text and characters within the parenthesizes. If quotes are removedalso remove all text within the quote. Continue to next step.

(19) Reconcile all dual meaning abbreviations using table 1236. Thencontinue to the next step.

(20) Compare the text string shall be compared to table 1238. Each groupof letters separated by a space, or single letter separated by a spaceshall be compared to all aliasing strings starting with the same firstletter. Replace the group of letters or letter that was being testedwith the first match, and replace the group in the same sequenceposition as the original group of letters or letter in the text string.At the end of this iterative process all words should be resolved in thetext string. If there is no match for a word in the string, remove theword from the description and log it appropriately.

(21) If there is header (e.g., CCC Header) information, look for a matchin table 1240. The rules determine if the header should be used or if itshould be converted to different words or if it should be discarded.Continue to the next step.

(22) Determine if there are single letters within the remaining wordstring. Determine if the individual letter(s) are allowable, and if notremove the letter(s) from the word string. Continue to the next step.

(23) Next determine if there are dual meaning words in the word stringusing table 1242. If appropriate place the words in the matching tableand move to the matching steps. The words do not have to be in sequence,nor do they have to be the only words in the string to match. Otherwisecontinue.

(24) Determine if the word string contains the word “TYPE.” If the wordstring contains the word “TYPE” remove the word “TYPE” and all wordsfollowing that word and continue. Otherwise continue without removingthe word.

The exemplary translation method can proceed in multiple ways. Twoexemplary method are discussed below. These examples are intended forillustrative purposes only and are not conclusive in any way. The outputof example one and/or example two can be input into a matching procedure(e.g., the procedures shown in FIGS. 15A-15B and the relateddescription).

EXAMPLE ONE

(1) If the word string contains any of the words listed in the listANTIFREEZE, APPLIQUE, BADGE, BALL, BOLT, BUCKLE, BULB, BUTTON, CANISTER,CHANNEL, CLAMP, CLIP, CLOCK SPRING, CLOCKSPRING, DECAL, EMBLEM, FASTNER,FLAP, GASKET, GROMMET, GUIDE, HANGER, KNOB, LABEL, LETTER, LOGO,MUDGUARD, NAMEPLATE, NUT, ORNAMENT, RELAY, RETAINER, RIVET, ROPE, SCREW,SEAL, SEALER, SHACKLE, SHIM, SNAP, SPACER, STAY, STRAP, STRIPE, STUD, UBOLT, U-BOLT, WEDGE, CAULK, and SEALER, terminate the translation and donot attempt to match the word string with item identifiers. If this isnot the case continue on in sequence.

(2) If at any time from this point in the sequence to the end of thesequence analysis of the word string, the word string is represented bya single word, that word shall be deemed the item name and move to thematching table.

(3) Run rules that addresses specific “part” rules.

(4) Run rules that address the use of combinations of common words usedin part descriptions.

(5) Check the word string for orientation words that describe thelocation or placement of the part using, for example, the list BACK,BACKWARD, BOTTOM, CENTER, DRIVER, DRIVERSIDE, FLEET, FORWARD, FRONT,INNER, LEFT, LOWER, MIDDLE, OUTER, PASSENGER, PASSENGERSIDE, REAR,RIGHT, SIDE, STEP, UNDER, UP, and UPPER. If there are word matches, movethe words to the matching table. Remove the orientation words from theword string and continue in sequence. If this is not the case continuein sequence.

(6) If the remaining string begins with a coma delete the coma beforecontinuing in sequence.

(7) If the word string has the first and/or the second word delineatedby a coma, then identify the first and/or word(s) in the string is theitem name unless the word is “assembly” or “set.” If the word precedingthe coma is “assembly” or “set” delete the word “assembly” or “set.” Ifthere is a word that was preceding “assembly” or “set” it is the itemname and all other words are descriptors. If the word preceding the comais not “assembly” or “set” the word preceding the coma should be theitem name and should be loaded into the item name field in the matchingtable. The other word is the first descriptor and the remainder of thestring should be loaded into the following descriptor fields in theirpresent sequence. Remove all comas in the word string at the completionof this step. The rules verify that all words are separated by just onespace at the end of this step. Move to step that looks for HyperQuest IDpart match. If there were no comas continue in sequence.

(8) If the word string consists of two or more words, one of which isthe word “assembly,” “set,” “extension,” “unit,” or a fastener (e.g.,one of the exemplary terms listed in the list BOLT, CLIP, EXTENSION,GROMMET, LUG, NUT, RIVET, SCREW, STUD, UNIT, ASSEMBLY, and SET): (8a) inthe case of “fastener,” “extension,” or “unit,” place the descriptor(s)in a descriptor field in the matching table and place “fastener,”“extension,” or “unit,” in the item name field in the matching table.All words following the word “fastener,” “extension,” or “unit,” aredeleted. (8b) In the case of “assembly” or “set” all words following theword “assembly” or “set” are deleted. The word preceding “assembly” or“set” should be placed in the item name field and all other words placedin the descriptor fields. Delete the word “assembly or set”. If one wordremains, treat it as the item name, and place it in item name field ofthe matching table. If “assembly” or “set” is the first word in the wordstring, delete “assembly” or “set” and continue in sequence. If this isnot the case continue in sequence. If this is not the case continue insequence.

(9) Test for pattern recognition of standard part description patternsusing, for example, the list of terms AIR, AXLE, BED, BEDSIDE, BODY,BRAKE, BUMPER, CABIN, CLUTCH, AIRCONDITIONER, CONSOLE, COWL, DOOR,EMISSION, ENGINE, EXHAUST, FENDER, FUEL, GRILLE, HEADLAMP, HEATER, HOOD,QUARTERPANEL, RADIATOR, ROOF, STEERING, SUSPENSION, TRANSMISSION, TRUNK,WASHER, WHEEL, WINDOW, WINDSHIELD, and WIPER.

(9a) If the “primary item name” is the first word in the string then thelast word in the string is in the string's “item name” and should beplaced in the “item name” field in the matching table. The words betweenthe “primary item name” (first in the string) and the “item name” (lastin the string) should be placed in the second, third & fourth descriptorfields in the same sequence they are in the string. Move to matchingsteps. If this is not the case continue in sequence.

(9b) If the “primary item name” is the last word in the string, then thefirst word in the string is the string's “item name.” Place the firstword of the string in the “item name” field in the matching table. Therest of the words can be placed in sequence in the descriptor fieldsafter the “primary item name” is placed in the first descriptor field.Move to matching steps. If this is not the case continue in sequence.

(9c) If the “primary item name” is in the middle of the string the wordto the right of it is the string's “item name” and should be placed inthe “item name” field of the matching table. To the left all words canbe placed in sequence in the descriptor fields after the “primary itemname” is placed in first descriptor field. All other words should beignored. Move to matching steps.

(9d) If information is lacking then estimate the correct answer based onstatistical norms. The remaining string does not have a primary itemname or it has two non-consecutive, “primary item names” or it is madeup of only “primary item names.” Therefore, place the last word in thestring in the “item name” field and the other words in the descriptorfields in the sequence they appear in the string. Move to matchingsteps.

(9e) If one word remains or one word and orientation words only, checktable 1244 for that word and move to lack of information step that doesnot provide a translation or continue in sequence accordingly.

EXAMPLE TWO Proceed as Described in FIGS. 14A-14C

FIG. 16A is a screen shot 1600 of an exemplary demand file 1602 inputinto the auditing system. The demand file 1602 includes headerinformation 1604 and line items 1606. The line items includeinformation, such as, the line item, the entry number, the labor type,the operation, the line item description, the part type/part number, thedollar amount, the labor units, and the C&G unit. While the demand file1602 is an automobile demand file, this is for exemplary purposes only,as any type of claim file can be used with the present system.

FIGS. 16B-16F are exemplary screen shots of an exemplary web utilityused to carry out features of the subject invention. FIG. 16B is anexemplary screen shot 1620 of a subrogation work list manager 1622. Thesubrogation work list manager 1622 includes the current subrogationqueue filter window 1624. The current subrogation queue filter window1624 includes information for a plurality of claim files 1626,including, for example, the current status and the current status level.Claim files with a status of “Active” and a level of “Normal” are readyfor a user of the web utility to view.

FIG. 16C is an exemplary screen shot of a claim breakdown window 1630(e.g., for a claim file 1626 of FIG. 16B. The user of the web utilitycan, for example, view the parts and non-parts audit responses,determine which to settle, and move the claim to the negotiation reviewscreen (SEE FIG. 16D). FIG. 16D is an exemplary screen shot of anegotiation review screen 1640. The user can contact the adverse carrierand settle the claim from the negotiation review screen 1640. As theclaim is settled, the user can update the fields to reflect the desiredchanges on the final agreed estimate. FIG. 16E is a second exemplaryview of the subrogation queue filter window 1624 of the subrogation worklist manager 1622 of FIG. 16B. Once the user has settled the demand withthe adverse carrier and updated the agreed changes, the status ischanged to “Waiting” and the level remains “Normal.” When the finalestimate is updated with changes, the level changes to “Urgent” and theuser can then access the claim and print the final estimate.

FIGS. 16E and 16F are an exemplary screen shot of the claim breakdownwindow 1630 of FIG. 16C. The user selects the “Estimate” option 1650 toview an updated final estimate 1652 with all adjustments incorporated.The user can select print 1654 to print the estimate to a document thatcan be uploaded to the claim file. The subrogation status changes to“Complete” 1660 after the final estimate has been printed. This action,for example, removes the claim file from the subrogation queue 1624 andplaces the file in a completed queue.

The above-described techniques can be implemented in digital and/oranalog electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware,software, or in combinations of them. The implementation can be as acomputer program product, i.e., a computer program tangibly embodied ina machine-readable storage device, for execution by, or to control theoperation of, a data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmableprocessor, a computer, and/or multiple computers. A computer program canbe written in any form of computer or programming language, includingsource code, compiled code, interpreted code and/or machine code, andthe computer program can be deployed in any form, including as astand-alone program or as a subroutine, element, or other unit suitablefor use in a computing environment. A computer program can be deployedto be executed on one computer or on multiple computers at one or moresites.

Method steps can be performed by one or more processors executing acomputer program to perform functions of the invention by operating oninput data and/or generating output data. Method steps can also beperformed by, and an apparatus can be implemented as, special purposelogic circuitry, e.g., a FPGA (field programmable gate array), a FPAA(field-programmable analog array), a CPLD (complex programmable logicdevice), a PSoC (Programmable System-on-Chip), ASIP(application-specific instruction-set processor), or an ASIC(application-specific integrated circuit). Subroutines can refer toportions of the computer program and/or the processor/special circuitrythat implement one or more functions.

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of digital or analog computer.Generally, a processor receives instructions and data from a read-onlymemory or a random access memory or both. The essential elements of acomputer are a processor for executing instructions and one or morememory devices for storing instructions and/or data. Generally, acomputer also includes, or is operatively coupled to receive data fromor transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices forstoring data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks.Data transmission and instructions can also occur over a communicationsnetwork. Information carriers suitable for embodying computer programinstructions and data include all forms of volatile and non-volatilememory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g.,DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks,e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; andoptical disks, e.g., CD, DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-ray disks. The processorand the memory can be supplemented by or incorporated in special purposelogic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, the above described techniquescan be implemented on a computer in communication with a display device,e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube), plasma, or LCD (liquid crystal display)monitor, for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and apointing device, e.g., a mouse, a trackball, a touchpad, or a motionsensor, by which the user can provide input to the computer (e.g.,interact with a user interface element). Other kinds of devices can beused to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example,feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g.,visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input fromthe user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, ortactile input.

The above described techniques can be implemented in a distributedcomputing system that includes a back-end component, e.g., as a dataserver, and/or a middleware component, e.g., an application server,and/or a front-end component, e.g., a client computer having a graphicaluser interface and/or a Web browser through which a user can interactwith an example implementation, or any combination of such back-end,middleware, or front-end components.

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client and aserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

One skilled in the art will realize the invention may be embodied inother specific forms without departing from the spirit or essentialcharacteristics thereof. The foregoing embodiments are therefore to beconsidered in all respects illustrative rather than limiting of theinvention described herein. Scope of the invention is thus indicated bythe appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description, and allchanges that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

1. A computerized auditing method comprising: receiving, via aprocessor, a data file comprising make model information, insurancecompany information, and one or more auditable items, each auditableitem comprising a word string having one or more words; automaticallytranslating, using the processor: the make model information into avehicle identifier; the insurance company information into an insurancecompany identifier; and the one or more auditable items into one or moregroups of identifiers, wherein the one or more groups of identifierscomprises one or more part item identifiers, one or more operationalitem identifiers, or both; automatically generating, using theprocessor, a parts audit report based on the one or more groups ofidentifiers, the parts audit report comprising data indicative ofwhether one or more parts of the one or more auditable items is acceptedbased on one or more rules associated with the insurance companyidentifier; automatically generating, using the processor, anoperational audit report based on the one or more groups of identifiers,the operational audit report comprising data indicative of whether oneor more operations of the one or more auditable items is accepted basedon one or more rules associated with the insurance company identifier;and automatically generating, using the processor, a multi-pointestimate based on the parts audit report data and the operational auditreport data.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein automatically translatingthe make model information into a vehicle identifier comprises, for eachword string comprising make model information, wherein the make modelinformation comprises one or more make fields and one or more modelfields: preparing the one or more model fields for translation by:applying one or more rules from a plurality of rules; and associatingeach field of the one or more model fields with a class from a list ofclasses; preparing the one or more make fields for translation byapplying one or more rules from the plurality of rules; associating eachfield of the one or more make fields with one or more make model entriesfrom a plurality of predetermined make model entries; associating eachfield of the one or more model fields with one or more make modelentries from the plurality of predetermined make model entries; andautomatically translating the word string into one or more vehicleidentifiers based on the associated make model entries.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein: the one or more make fields comprise a claim makefield and an estimate block make field; and the one or more model fieldscomprise a claim model field and an estimate block model field.
 4. Themethod of claim 2, wherein preparing the one or more model fields fortranslation by applying one or more rules from a plurality of rulescomprises: identifying a model in the one or more model fields that doesnot need processing; identifying two words that must be combined intoone word, and combining the two words into one word; identifying a firstword that must be separated into two words, and separating the firstword into two words; or identifying a second word as a descriptiveclassification word, and standardizing a spelling of the second word, orany combination thereof.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein associatingeach field of the one or more make fields with one or more make modelentries from a plurality of predetermined make model entries comprises:generating a temporary translation table, wherein each row of thetemporary translation table comprises a manufacturer field, a makefield, a model superset field, and a model subset field; identifying amatch of a make field of the one or more make fields with apredetermined make model entry; and populating a row of the temporarytranslation table with match information.
 6. The method of claim 1wherein automatically translating the insurance company information intoan insurance company identifier comprises, wherein the insurance companyinformation comprises data comprising one or more words: processing thedata through one or more processing steps to generate processed datacomprising one or more processed words; selecting one or more candidateword strings based on the one or more processed words; associatingmatching information with each of the one or more candidate wordstrings; generating analysis information for each of the one or morecandidate word strings based on the associated matching information; andassociate an insurance company identifier with received data based onthe analysis information and one or more matching rules.
 7. The methodof claim 6, wherein processing the data through one or more processingsteps to generate processed data comprising one or more processed wordscomprises: identifying a hyphenated word and replacing the hyphenatedword in the data indicative of an insurance company name with apredetermined word string; identifying a state abbreviation word,identifying a position of the state abbreviation word in the dataindicative of an insurance company name, and associating an identifierwith the data indicative of the position; or identifying a punctuationmark in the data indicative of an insurance company name, inserting aspace before the punctuation mark, and inserting a space after thepunctuation mark, or any combination thereof.
 8. The method of claim 6,wherein processing the data through one or more processing steps togenerate processed data comprising one or more processed wordscomprises: determining whether each word of the data is spelledcorrectly based on a predetermined list of words; and if a word isspelled incorrectly, associating the word with an identifier indicativeof the word being spelled incorrectly; or if a word is spelledcorrectly, associating the word with an identifier indicative of theword being spelled correctly.
 9. The method of claim 6, whereinselecting one or more candidate word strings based on the one or moreprocessed words comprises: determining whether the data includes two ormore words with a same usage number; selecting a first word in the data,wherein the first word has an earliest location in the data of the twoor more words with the same usage number; and selecting the one or morecandidate word strings based on the first word.
 10. The method of claim6, wherein generating analysis information for each of the one or morecandidate word strings based on the associated matching informationcomprises: determining whether a location word is in the data, thelocation word being indicative of an insurance company name; and ifthere is a location word, for each location word: determining a positionof the location word in the data indicative of an insurance companyname; and associating the word with an identifier indicative of theposition.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein automatically translatingthe one or more auditable items into one or more groups of identifierscomprises, for each word string comprising auditable items: applying oneor more rules from a plurality of rules to the word string, wherein eachrule is associated with a logic for processing the word string;determining whether the word string contains one or more predetermineditems; and if the word string contains one or more predetermined items,for each predetermined item, processing the word string based on thepredetermined item.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or morerules comprises one or more specific item rules, one or more combinationrules, or any combination thereof.
 13. The method of claim 11, whereinthe one or more predetermined items comprises one or more terms, one ormore punctuation marks, or any combination thereof.
 14. The method ofclaim 11, wherein automatically translating the one or more auditableitems into one or more groups of identifiers comprises, for each wordstring comprising auditable items: applying one or more combinationrules to the word string, wherein each rule is associated with a logicfor processing the word string; comparing the word string against abuild table to generate a relationship between the one or more words ofthe word string, the build table comprising one or more index words,each index word being associated with index information; and generatingthe translated item description based on the relationship.
 15. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the multi-point estimate comprises an auditestimate based on each line item of the data file, wherein each lineitem is automatically evaluated based on any remaining line items of thedata file.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein automatically translatingthe one or more auditable items into an operational item identifiercomprises automatically translating an auditable item from the one ormore auditable items that does not involve a physical removal of avehicle part with a replacement of a replacement part in place of theremoved vehicle part.
 17. An apparatus comprising: an auditing systemconfigured to receive a data file comprising make model information,insurance company information, and one or more auditable items, eachauditable item comprising a word string having one or more words; a makemodel translator in communication with the auditing system configured toautomatically translate the make model information into a vehicleidentifier; an insurance company name translator in communication withthe make model translator configured to automatically translate theinsurance company information into an insurance company identifier; aparts translator in communication with the insurance company nametranslator configured to automatically translate the one or moreauditable items into one or more groups of identifiers, wherein the oneor more groups of identifiers comprises one or more part itemidentifiers, one or more operational item identifiers, or both; and anoutput unit in communication with the auditing apparatus configured to:automatically generate a parts audit report based on the one or moregroups of identifiers, the parts audit report comprising data indicativeof whether one or more parts of the one or more auditable items isaccepted based on one or more rules associated with the insurancecompany identifier; automatically generate an operational audit reportbased on the one or more groups of identifiers, the operational auditreport comprising data indicative of whether one or more operations ofthe one or more auditable items is accepted based on one or more rulesassociated with the insurance company identifier; and automaticallygenerate a multi-point estimate based on the parts audit report data andthe operational audit report data.
 18. A computer program product,tangibly embodied in a computer readable storage medium, the computerprogram product including instructions being operable to cause a dataprocessing apparatus to: receive a data file comprising make modelinformation, insurance company information, and one or more auditableitems, each auditable item comprising a word string having one or morewords; automatically translate: the make model information into avehicle identifier; the insurance company information into an insurancecompany identifier; and the one or more auditable items into one or moregroups of identifiers, wherein the one or more groups of identifierscomprises one or more part item identifiers, one or more operationalitem identifiers, or both; automatically generate a parts audit reportbased on the one or more groups of identifiers, the parts audit reportcomprising data indicative of whether one or more parts of the one ormore auditable items is accepted based on one or more rules associatedwith the insurance company identifier; automatically generate anoperational audit report based on the one or more groups of identifiers,the operational audit report comprising data indicative of whether oneor more operations of the one or more auditable items is accepted basedon one or more rules associated with the insurance company identifier;and automatically generate a multi-point estimate based on the partsaudit report data and the operational audit report data.
 19. Anapparatus comprising: means for receiving a data file comprising makemodel information, insurance company information, and one or moreauditable items, each auditable item comprising a word string having oneor more words; means for automatically translating the make modelinformation into a vehicle identifier; means for automaticallytranslating the insurance company information into an insurance companyidentifier; means for automatically translating the one or moreauditable items into one or more groups of identifiers, wherein the oneor more groups of identifiers comprises one or more part itemidentifiers, one or more operational item identifiers, or both; andmeans for: automatically generating a parts audit report based on theone or more groups of identifiers, the parts audit report comprisingdata indicative of whether one or more parts of the one or moreauditable items is accepted based on one or more rules associated withthe insurance company identifier; automatically generating anoperational audit report based on the one or more groups of identifiers,the operational audit report comprising data indicative of whether oneor more operations of the one or more auditable items is accepted basedon one or more rules associated with the insurance company identifier;and automatically generating a multi-point estimate based on the partsaudit report data and the operational audit report data.